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THE MEMORIAL 
TO WASHINGTON 


An Historic Souvenir 


By 

CHARLES H. CALLAHAN 









Fl3*f- 

M 0.s> 


Copyright by 
Charles H. Callahan 
1923 


m *5 1923 


PUBLISHED BY THE 
LOCAL MEMORIAL COMMITTEE 
OF ALEXANDRIA 

©C1A760752 


Designed and Printed by 
NATIONAL CAPITAL PRESS, INC. 
WASHINGTON, D. C. 


To My Daughter 
JESSICA 















CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Frontispiece. Williams Portrait of Washington. 

Chapter 1. Alexandria, Virginia. 9 

Chapter 2. Alexandria-Washington Lodge. 15 

Chapter 3. Why Build a Memorial to Washington?. 46 

Why Locate the Temple in Alexandria, Virginia? 

Chapter 4. The Masonic National Memorial Association. 49 

Chapter 5. The Temple and Its Environments. 83 

Abingdon. 85 

Arlington. 89 

Christ Church.. 93 

Gadsby’s Tavern. 95 

Carlyle House. 97 

Cameron Valley. 99 

Mount Eagle. 103 

Mount Vernon. 105 

Woodlawn. 110 

Bel voir. 115 

Gunston Hall. 120 

Pohick Church. 125 











































PREFACE 



HE OBJECT of the writer in compiling this booklet is 
to furnish the public in general and Freemasons in 
particular condensed and authentic information con¬ 
cerning the nature and objects of the George Wash¬ 
ington Masonic National Memorial Association as 
well as of the character, size and environment of the Memorial 
temple being erected by this Association at Alexandria, Virginia. 
To do this intelligently it was considered necessary to deal briefly 
not only with the principal subject but to refer also to Wash¬ 
ington s business and official connection with Alexandria and the 
historic landmarks in that vicinity. To definitely locate these 
numerous places of interest in the reader s mind we have supplied an 
illustrated map by which, when desired, the distance and directions 
of these places from the temple can be obtained, showing also the 
highways by which they can be most conveniently reached. It is 
unnecessary to say that the subject is a large one and could not be 
treated with the fullness of detail it so richly deserves, but we hope 
the reader will be able to gather from even this limited sketch a 
reasonably accurate idea of the far-reaching importance of the whole 
enterprise. 


CHARLES H. CALLAHAN. 












CHAPTER ONE 

ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA 


OR MORE THAN fifty years after the first English colony 
landed in \ irginia in 1007 all efforts to settle the upper tide¬ 
water section of the province were seriously hampered by 
the determined resistance of the Indians. These were his 
favorite haunts, his choice hunting grounds, and he stoutly 
and, perhaps, justly resented the encroachment of the per¬ 
severing paleface. The tribes along the large tributaries of the Chesapeake 
Bay were numerous and strong. Deeply incensed at the harsh treatment 
accorded their race by the first colonists, they hoarded their animosity with 
stoic patience, awaiting the time to strike and glut their insatiable thirst 
for revenge. It came at last as a bolt from a cloudless sky and with relent¬ 
less hate on both sides. No quarter was given or expected. The represent¬ 
atives of the crown, strongly intrenched in royal favor and, as they sup¬ 
posed, amply protected at Jamestown from the border danger, had given 
little consideration to the anxious supplications of the exposed settlements. 

This indifference to public safety invited calamity and cost the lives 
of five hundred settlers. In the early part of 1644 the savages, inspired 
by Oppecancanaugh, the century-old brother of Powhatan, without a 
moment’s warning fell with merciless fury upon the thinly settled frontiers. 
Meeting with little opposition at first and emboldened by temporary suc¬ 
cess, they carried the torch and tomahawk to the very doors of the burgess. 
Thoroughly alarmed, Governor Berkeley hastily organized and equipped 
available ..forces, invaded the enemy’s country, captured Oppecancanaugh, 
drove his followers from the nearby rivers, and for a time restored peace 
and a measure of confidence along the borders, but the source of trouble 
still remained. Roving bands of red men continued to rob and murder the 
frontiersman. To obtain permanent tranquillity this condition necessarily 
had to stop, and after years of temporizing, Colonel John Washington, 
great grandfather of the General and founder of the family in America, was 
placed in command of the provincial forces and personally conducted the 
campaign against the savages with such vigor that in a few months the 
backbone of Indian power was effectually broken. After this, the red men, 
driven beyond the Blue Ridge Mountains, gave little trouble to the sparsely 



9 




















THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 


populated communities in Northern Virginia east of that range. It is an 
interesting incident that the last battle between the Indians and the English 
in the upper tidewater section of Virginia was fought on land that after¬ 
wards became a part of Mount Vernon farms and the colonial rangers were 
under the command of a Washington. No important incident of early 
colonial days lias received less attention from historians than this short but 
significant campaign. It was the forerunner of Bacon’s rebellion and for 
the same cause, and yet Bacon’s men were outlawed and many of them 
executed while John Washington is only casually referred to and in that 
brief reference received praise instead of punishment. Three years before 
this event, or in 1673, Colonel Nicholas Spencer and this same John 
Washington received a grant of five thousand acres of land from Lord 
Culpepper, situated on the Potomac River, between the Dogue and Little 
Hunting Creeks. In 1690 this grant was divided and the Washington 
moiety of twenty-five hundred acres came down through several vendees 
of the family to Augustine, the father of the General. Augustine Washing¬ 
ton died April 12, 1743, and under his will the property descended to his 
eldest son, Lawrence. (See Mount Vernon.) 

In July, following the death of his father, Lawrence married Annie, 
daughter of William Fairfax, a near neighbor, and established a permanent 
seat on his newly acquired legacy to which he gave the name of Mount 
Vernon in honor of Admiral Vernon of the British Navy. Entering public 
life, he was elected a delegate to the House of Burgesses and in 1748, while 
serving in this capacity, secured the necessary legislation to organize a town 
in the County of Fairfax, by the name and title of Alexandria. Pursuant to 
the act of assembly the municipal government was effected on the 13th day 
of July, 1749, with Thomas, the 6th Lord Fairfax, George William Fairfax, 
Lawrence Washington, Richard Osborn, William Ramsay, John Carlyle, 
John Pagan, Gerard Alexander, Hugh West and Philip Alexander, as "the 
Board of Trustees or governing body. We have briefly recited the fore¬ 
going facts in connection with the early history of Tidewater, Va., to show 
the intimate connection of the Washingtons with the organization and 
early history of Alexandria. The town was named for the Alexanders, a 
worthy and influential family who owned large land interest in the vicinity 
and cooperated with Lawrence Washington and his in-laws, the Fairfaxes, 
in perfecting the municipal organization. (See Belvoir.) 

In 1754 George Mason, the great American patriot and a neighbor of 
Washington, was elected a member of the Board of Trustees, succeeding 
Philip Alexander, deceased, and in 1765, Colonel George Washington was 
elected a member in “place of the late Judge George Johnston,” a colleague 
of Washington in the House of Burgesses. Both Mason and Washington con¬ 
tinued to serve in this capacity until the incorporation of the town in 1779. 
Alexandria was but a struggling village when the boy Washington took 


10 





ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA 


up his residence at Mount Vernon in 1740 and formed an acquaintance with 
the people of the vicinity where his permanent home was to be established, 
Nor had the town developed much in line of municipal order when, in 1753. 
he received his commission and instructions from Governor Dinwiddie 
and started with a very meager outfit on his long journey via Winchester, 
Wills Creek (now Cumberland, Maryland) to the French fort, Le Boeuf, on 
Lake Erie to warn the French off the “Ohio country.” Nor had it improved 
much in general appearance when a year later the same youthful provincial 
Colonel, with headquarters at the “City Tavern” in Alexandria (a picture of 
which is shown in this work), recruited his first battalion of militia and from 
which he started on his march toward the forks of the Ohio to gain his first 
experience and feel the first sensation of active combat at Great Meadows. 

From a military standpoint this was not much of a campaign, but it 
not only helped to train Washington for the arduous duties and respon¬ 
sibilities which were soon to come, but precipitated a war which lasted 
for seven years on this continent, crossed the ocean, and continued for 
sixty years in Europe. Only a year later Washington was made aide-de- 
camp to Braddock with the rank of major and took up his quarters in the 
old “City Tavern” in which he had recruited his first command. He left 
Alexandria in April, 1755, to take up his march with that ill-fated expedi¬ 
tion to Fort Duquesne. In July following he achieved an enviable distinc¬ 
tion on the field of battle at Monongahela. His conduct in this battle 
made him world famous and remains today one of the most inspiring inci¬ 
dents of his life. The battle of Monongahela or Fort Duquesne, as it is 
generally called, beyond doubt w T as the foundation for Washington’s fame as 
a soldier, and the reputation for personal courage and military skill which 
he won there was never forfeited during his long military career. His 
heroic defense of the exposed frontier from the Potomac to the Carolina 
border from 1755 to the fall of Fort Duquesne in 1758 is a matter of history 
and need not be referred to in this sketch. 

As is well known, after the fall of Fort Duquesne in 1758 Washington 
retired from the army, married the widow Custis and resmned the pleasant 
occupations of civil life at Mount Vernon. His subsequent record as 
member of the House of Burgesses of Virginia and of the Continental 
Congress, his selection as Commander-in-Chief of the American forces and 
the harrowing experiences of the Revolution which he bore with exemplary 
patience; the surrender of his command and his retirement to private life 
upon the attainment of peace, and his brilliant achievement in installing 
the new and untried system of government are also matters of national 
history and need no comment here. 

The geographical location of Alexandria, its intimate association with 
the lives of prominent men and the numerous historic points of interest 
in and around the city, have combined to make it a favorite resort for all 


11 





THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 


classes of tourists, particularly those interested in Colonial history. Located 
on the west bank of the Potomac River, only six miles south of and in plain 
view of Washington City, it is not only directly in the line of travel to 
Mount Vernon which is about seven miles distant, but it is also the coast 
line gateway to the south and the great southwest, through which countless 
thousands annually pour to and fro. The Southern, the R. F. and P., 
C. & O., A. C. L., S. A. L., Norfolk and Western, the Pennsylvania, in fact 
all the big transportation lines which operate trains between the national 
capital and Dixie’s land, must pass through the corporate limits of Alex¬ 
andria if they take a direct course. The great international highway from 
Montreal via Washington and Richmond to Miami, over which innumer¬ 
able automobile tourists journey from the colder regions of the north to the 
milder and more temperate climate of the Florida country, and back again, 
not only passes through Alexandria but directly by the Memorial Temple, 
as do the steam and electric railroads. By a singular coincidence which, 
perhaps, can be attributed to its location, Alexandria has occupied a promi¬ 
nent, if not a strategical position in the public eye in at least three great 
wars. It was the rendezvous of Braddoek’s army when that unfortunate 
and misguided officer came over in 1755 to actively begin the French and 
Indian war. As one of the objectives of the British fleet in its attack on the 
national capital in 1814, the city suffered tremendous losses. Being without 
proper means of defense, it fell an easy and valuable prey to the invader, 
who imposed heavy tribute upon the defenseless citizens and virtually 
sacked the town. It was one of the first points of invasion of the south by 
the Union Army under McDowell in 1861, and the first bloodshed in the 
war between the states was when Colonel Ellsworth of the New York 
Zouaves met his death at the hands of James Jackson, who in turn was 
killed by Sergeant Brownell in the “Marshall House,” still standing. 
Singularly enough it has been the home town and voting place of two of 
the greatest military leaders in the history of America, if not of all time— 
Washington and Lee. 

The abounding prosperity of the city immediately after the Revo¬ 
lution and, later on, its convenient location near the national capital, 
attracted a large number of influential public men, who established resi¬ 
dences here and became part of the social, political and economic life of 
the city, among whom we could mention General Daniel Robedeaux, a 
veteran French officer of the Revolution, who, like Baron Yon Steuben, 
after the close of the war for American independence adopted America as 
his permanent home; Light Horse Harry Lee of revolutionary fame; his 
brother, Charles Lee, attorney general of the United States serving under 
both Washington and Adams; Surgeon General James Craik and numbers 
of others who formed a brilliant circle and wove around the little colonial 
village the romance of their own lives. 


12 





ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA 


To the agreeable companionship of these bosom friends and former 
comrades Washington returned at the close of the Revolution in December, 
1783. It was a happy reunion of kindred spirits, and the arrival in their 
midst of the renowned and democratic chieftain added much interest and 
pleasure to the already brilliant social circle. It is true the war had levied 
heavy toll upon the young manhood of the community, but there were still 
left a goodly number of those old friends who had been his ardent supporters 
before the Revolution to add to the younger set who had followed his for¬ 
tunes and shared his dangers in that protracted struggle. “Washington is 
home again” was the slogan that resounded through the countryside of 
old Fairfax County and brought eager neighbors to Mount Vernon to 
renew the fond relations of former days at the fireside of their beloved hero. 

Among the first to arrive, we are told, was the great patriot, George 
Mason of Gunston Hall, Washington’s friend and neighbor “to whom 
all deferred,” and there were at least some of the men who in after years 
were to become so inseparably connected with him in private business and 
as a Freemason in the Alexandria Lodge. It was Christmas time, this 
homecoming of Washington, and even the servants were free to go and come 
at will. There was great rejoicing in the humble cabin as well as in the 
“mansion.” From the lowly farmhand to the autocrat “Billy Lee” the 
welcome news “massa am home again” was a source of unfeigned delight 
which brought these trusting servants, old and young, to the “great house” 
to meet again, after years of separation, their revered master. Xo gifted 
pen has chronicled this interesting event in the life of Washington. Only 
an old faded letter written by a young girl who happened to be visiting in 
the house, to friends in Fredericksburg, tells the beautiful story in broken 
sentences, leaving much to conjecture. “The servants were in great glee. 
They came from all the quarters to get a glimpse of their idol. The Gen¬ 
eral, much affected, received them on the front veranda; some (the old ones) 
were in tears, others were in raptures of mirth.” What a picture of the 
olden time and Washington at home! 

The chaos and uncertainty of war seem to stimulate the spirit of 
fraternal ism, particularly Freemasonry, and no period of Masonic history 
furnishes stronger proof of this fact than the era beginning with the revolu¬ 
tion in 1774 down to the Morgan episode in 1825, unless it is the period 
immediately following the recent war with Germany. Authentic records 
show that a great majority of the leading men of that history-making epoch 
were active members of the Craft. In view of this and of his well-known 
benevolent nature, it would have been singular if Washington, who was a 
Mason long before the Revolution, had not looked upon the numerous 
Masonic activities in his army with favor or had not taken an interest in 
their valuable relief work, as some have contended, and intelligent investi¬ 
gation has proven that he did. 


13 





THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 



14 

































CHAPTER TWO 

ALEXANDRIAWASHINGTON LODGE 


AVING resigned his commission as Commander-in-Chief of 
the Continental Army at Annapolis, Washington hurried 
home, arriving at Mount Vernon on December 24, 1783. 
Two days later he received the following letter of felicitation 
from a lodge of Freemasons which had been organized in 
Alexandria on the 25th of the preceding February under 
le Provincial Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, and designated 
in the register of that Grand Lodge as Alexandria No. 39: 

Sir: Whilst all denominations of people bless the happy occasion of your 
excellency’s return to enjoy private and domestic felicity, permit us, sir, the members 
of Lodge No. 39, lately established in Alexandria, to assure your excellency, that 
we, as a mystical body, rejoice in having a brother so near us, whose preeminent 
benevolence has secured the happiness of millions: and that we shall esteem our¬ 
selves highly honored at all times your excellency shall be pleased to join us in the 
needful business. 

We have the honor to be, in the name and behalf of No. 39, your excellency’s 

Devoted friends and brothers, 

Robert Adam, M. 

E. C. Dick, S. W. 

J. Allison, J. W. 

Wm. Ramsay, Treas. 

His Excellency General Washington. 

In reply to this communication General Washington wrote: 

Mount Vernon, 28 th Dec., 1883. 

Gentlemen: 

With a pleasing sensibility I received your favor of the 26th, and beg leave 
to offer you my sincere thanks for the favorable sentiments with which it abounds. 

I shall always feel pleasure when it may be in my power to render service 
to Lodge No. 39, and in every act of brotherly kindness to the members of it; 
being with great truth 

Your affect e Brother 

Robt. Adam, Esq., Master, and obed* Servant 

and the Warders and Treas. G° Washington. 

of Lodge No. 39. 



15 



















THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 


The original of this letter is among the many Washington souvenirs 
which adorn the walls of Alexandria-Washington Lodge Room today. 

Upon the approach of the festival of St. John the Baptist, in June 
following the above correspondence, the Lodge addressed Washington an 
invitation to join them, to which he sent the following reply: 


Mount Vernon, June 19, 1784. 

Dear Sir: With pleasure, I received the invitation of the master and members 
of Lodge No. 89, to dine with them on the approaching anniversary of St. John 
the Baptist. If nothing unforeseen at present interferes, I will have the honor of 
doing it. For the polite and flattering terms in which you have expressed their 
wishes, you will please accept my thanks. 

With esteem and respect, 

I am, dear sir. 

Your most Ob’t serv’t, 

G° Washington. 


Wm. Herbert, Esquire. 


The original of this letter is also in Washington Lodge, and the records 
of the meeting, still extant, show that the General was present and par¬ 
ticipated in the celebration of the festival and that it was on this occasion 
that he first became identified with the Fraternity in Alexandria by being 
elected an honorary member of Lodge No. 39. 

The Provincial Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania was abolished September 
25, 1786, and the following day the present independent grand lodge was 
organized. Letters were immediately forwarded to all constituent lodges 
of the old organization requesting a return of their provincial charters in 
order that warrants might be issued under the new system. After some 
deliberation the members of No. 39 decided not to renew their Pennsylvania 
warrant but to apply to the Grand Lodge of Virginia for a charter. It is 
singular this had not been done in the first place as the latter grand lodge 
had been organized in 1778 and had, of course, been functioning for five 
years when No. 39 received its warrant from Pennsylvania. The incident 
serves to illustrate the divided or dual authority claimed and exercised 
under the old provincial plan. Pursuant to their decision, formal applica¬ 
tion was made to and a charter granted by the Grand Lodge of A irginia, 
April 28, 1788, and signed by Edmund Randolph, Grand Master. (Full 
text may be found in “Washington the Man and the Mason,” page 287.) 
For the information of our readers we insert here the second paragraph : 

Know Ye, That we, Edmund Randolph, Esq., Governor of the Common¬ 
wealth aforesaid, and Grand Master of the Most Ancient and Honorable Society 
°f Freemasons, within the same, by and with the consent of the Grand Lodge of 
Virginia, do hereby constitute and appoint our illustrious and well-beloved brother, 
George Washington, Esq., late General and Commander-in-Chief of the forces of 
the United States of America, and our worthy brethren, Robert McCrea, William 


16 





ALEXANDRIA-WASHINGTON LODGE 


Hunter, Jr., and John Allison, Esq., together with all such other brethren as may¬ 
be admitted to associate with them, to be a just, true, and regular Lodge of Free¬ 
masons, by the name, title, and designation of the Alexandria Lodge, No. 22. 

LTnder this appointment Washington served as charter Master until 
December 20 following when, as the extract from the minutes of that date 
shows, he was unanimously elected to succeed himself for the full term, 
serving in all about twenty months. 

His excellency, General Washington, unanimously elected Master; Robert 
McCrea, Senior Warden; William Hunter, Jr., Junior Warden; William Hodgson, 
Treasurer; Joseph Greenway, Secretary; Dr. Frederick Spanberger, Senior Deacon; 
George Richards, Junior Deacon. 

In a few months after this election. General Washington was called 
from his rural pursuits to install the new government, and there is no record 
of his attendance at any of the meetings of the lodge during his second term 
as Master, after the 27tli of December following his election on the 20th, 
when he is noted as present. On that occasion the officers were undoubtedly 
installed, although the records make no mention of the installation of any 
of the officers elected for that year. Recording those present, they briefly 
state that, “after transacting the business before them, they all repaired 
to Wise’s, where an elegant repast was served.” (“Washington the Man 
and the Mason,” page 288.) 

Washington’s official connection with the Alexandria Lodge not only 
brought the institution into immediate prominence but it also exercised a 
salutary influence upon the public. As a result, most of the leading citizens 
in the community became active members, and few important ceremonies 
were performed in or around this section in which the Masonic Fraternity 
took any part whatever where Washington’s Lodge was not a conspicuous 
figure. The first function of a public nature in which it played a prominent 
part was that of laying of the corner-stone of the District of Columbia. 
No subject ever discussed by Congress during Washington’s first administra¬ 
tion caused the President greater anxiety than the selection of a site for the 
permanent seat of the government. The vexed question finally settled by 
concession and compromise and the limits of the District of Columbia 
agreed upon, Lodge No. 22 was selected to lay the first corner-stone. The 
ceremony was performed Friday, April 15, 1791, by Dr. Elisha Cullen Dick, 
who had succeeded General Washington as Worshipful Master. The 
stone was set on Jones’ Point, near the mouth of Great Hunting Creek, on 
the banks of the Potomac a short distance below Alexandria, and stands by 
the side of the Lighthouse, which can be seen from either the boat or electric 
cars on their trips to and from Mount Vernon. 


17 





THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 


The following account of the setting of this stone is, perhaps, the best 
record of the event extant: 

Alexandria, April 21st, 1791. 

On Friday, the 15th instant, the Hon. Daniel Carroll and Hon. David 
Stuart* arrived in this town to superintend the fixing of the first corner¬ 
stone of the Federal District. 

The Mayor and Commonalty, together with the members of the differ¬ 
ent Masonic Lodges, at three o’clock, waited on the Commissioners at Mr. 
Wise’s tavern, where they dined, and, after drinking a glass of wine to the 
following sentiment, viz: “May the stone which we are about to place 
remain an immovable monument of the wisdom and unanimity of North 
America,” the company proceeded to Jones’ point in the following order: 

1st. The Town Sergeant. 

2nd. Hon. Daniel Carroll and the Mayor. 

3rd. Mr. Ellicott and the Recorder. 

4th. Such of the Common Council and Aldermen as were not Freemasons. 

5th. Strangers. 

6th. The Master of Lodge No. 22, with Dr. David Stuart on his right and the 
Rev. James Muir on his left, followed by the rest of the Fraternity, in 
their usual form of procession. 

Lastly. The citizens, two by two. 

When Mr. Ellicott had ascertained the precise point from which the 
first line of the District was to proceed, the Master of the Lodge, Dr. Dick, 
and Dr. Stuart, assisted by others of their brethren, placed the stone. 
After which a deposit of corn, wine, and oil was placed upon it, and the 
following observations were made by Rev. James Muir: 

“Of America it may be said, as of Judea of old, that it is a good land, and large— 
a land of brooks, of waters, of fountains, and depths that spring out of the valleys 
and hills—a land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig-trees, and pomegranates— 
a land of oil, olives and honey—a land wherein we eat bread without scarceness, 
and have lack of nothing—a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills 
thou mayst dig brass—a land which the Lord thy God careth for; the eyes of the 
Lord thy God are always upon it; from the beginning of the year even unto the 
end of the year. 

“May Americans be grateful and virtuous, and they shall insure the indulgence 
of Providence; may they be unanimous and just, and they shall rise to greatness; 
may true patriotism actuate every heart; may it be the devout and universal 
wish; Peace be within thy walls, O America, and prosperity within thy palaces! 
Amiable it is for brethren to dwell together in unity; it is more fragrant than the 
perfumes on Aaron’s garments; it is more refreshing than the dews on Ilermon’s 
hill. 


* Dr. David Stuart married the widow of Mrs. Washington’s son, John C'ustis. 


18 






ALEXANDRIA-WASHINGTON LODGE 


“May this stone long commemorate the goodness of God in those uncommon 
events which have given America a name among nations. Under this stone may 
jealousy and selfishness be forever buried. From this stone may a superstructure 
arise, whose glory, whose magnificence, whose stability, unequelled hitherto, shall 
astonish the world, and invite even the savage of the wilderness to take shelter 
under its roof.” 

The company partook of some refreshments, and then returned to the 
place from whence they came, where a number of toasts were drank; and the 
following was delivered by the Master of the Lodge (Dr. Dick), and re¬ 
ceived with every token of appreciation: 

“Brethren and gentlemen, may jealousy, that ‘green-eyed monster,’ be buried deep under the 
work which we have this day completed, never to rise again within the Federal District.” 

Washington's second inauguration took place in the Senate Chamber 
in Philadelphia on the 4th of March, 1793, and on the 18th of September 
following he laid the corner-stone of the Capitol of the United States in the 
city that bears his name. This was the next important function of the kind 
in which Lodge No. 22 participated. The Masonic ceremonies on this 
occasion were arranged by and under the supervision of the Grand Lodge of 
Maryland; the stone—or, to be more exact, the plate—was laid by His 
Excellency, General Washington; and through the courtesy of the acting 
Grand Master of Maryland, the Lodge of which he was then Past Master 
held the post of honor in the procession and acted as personal escort to the 
President. 

The stone and the plate with the inscription were deposited in the 
southeast corner of the building instead of the northeast, as is now the 
custom. The inscription on the plate stated that Alexandria Lodge, No. 22, 
was present and participated in the ceremonies. 

The following is an extract from an account of the ceremonies, pub¬ 
lished in the newspapers of that day, and will give the reader a fairly correct 
idea of the program arranged for the occasion: 

On Wednesday, one of the grandest Masonic processions took place, for the 
purpose of laying the corner-stone of the Capitol of the United States, which, 
perhaps, was ever exhibited on the like important occasion. About ten o'clock. 
Lodge No. 9 was visited by that congregation so graceful to the craft, Lodge No. 
22, of Virginia, with all their officers and regalia. 

His Excellency and suite crossed the Potomac River and were received in 
Maryland by the officers and brethren of No. 22, Virginia, and No. 9, Maryland, 
whom the President headed, preceded by a band of music; the rear brought up by 
the Alexandria Volunteer Artillery, with grand solemnity of march, proceeded to 
the President’s Square, in the city of Washington, where they were met and saluted 
by No. 15, of the city of Washington, in all their elegant badges and clothing, 
headed by Brother Joseph Clarke, Rt. Wor. G. M. p. t., and conducted to a large 
lodge prepared for the purpose of their reception. After a short space of time, 


19 





THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 


the brotherhood and other bodies were disposed in a second order of procession, 
which took place amidst a brilliant crowd of spectators of both sexes, according 
to the following arrangement, viz.: 

The Surveying Department of the city of Washington 
Mayor and Corporation of Georgetown. 

Virginia Artillery. 

Commissioners of the city of Washington and their Attendants. 
Stone-cutters—Mechanics. 

Masons of the first degree. 

Bible, etc., on grand cushions. 

Deacons, with staffs of office. 

Masons of the second degree. 

Stewards, with wands. 

Masons of the third degree. 

Wardens, with truncheons. 

Secretaries, with tools of office. 

Past Masters, with their regalia. 

Treasurers, with their jewels. 

Band of Music. 

Lodge No. 22, Virginia, disposed in their own order. 

Corn, wine and oil. 

Grand Master pro. tern. Brother George Washington, and Worshipful 
Master of No. 22, of Virginia. 

Grand Sword-Bearer. 


The procession marched two abreast, hi the greatest solemn dignity, from 
the President’s Square (site of the executive mansion) to the Capitol, in the city 
of Washington, where the Grand Marshal ordered a halt, and directed each file 
in the procession to incline two steps, one to the right and one to the left, and 
face each other, which formed a hollow oblong square, through which the Grand 
Sword-Bearer led the van; followed by the Grand Master pro tem. on the left, the 
President of the United States in the center, and the the Worshipful Master of 
No. 22, Virginia, on the right; all the other orders that composed the procession 
advanced in the reverse of their order of march from the President’s Square to 
the southeast corner of the Capitol. The President of the United States, the 
Grand Master pro tem., and the Worshipful Master of No. 22, taking their stand 
to the east of a large stone, and all the Craft forming a circle westward, stood a 
short time in solemn order. 

The Grand Marshal delivered the Commissioners a large silver plate which 
contained the following inscription: 

“This southeast corner-stone of the Capitol of the United States of America 
in the city of Washington, was laid on the 18th day of September, 1793, in the 


20 





ALEXANDRIA-WASHINGTON LODGE 


thirteenth year of American Independence, in the first year of the second term of 
the presidency of George Washington, whose virtues in the civil administration of 
his country have been as conspicuous and beneficial as his military valor and 
prudence have been useful in establishing her liberties, and in the year of Masonry 
5793, by the President of the United States, in concert with the Grand Lodge of 
Maryland, several lodges under its jurisdiction, and Lodge No. 22, from Alexandria, 
Virginia. Thomas Johnson, David Steuart and Daniel Carroll, Commissioners. 
Joseph Clark, R. W. G. M. pro tem., James Hoban and Stephen Hallate, Architects. 
Colin Williamson, Master Mason.” 

After reading the inscription the plate was delivered to the President who, 
attended by the Grand Master pro tem. and three Most Worshipful Masters, 
descended to the cavazion trench and laid it on the corner-stone of the Capitol of 
the United States of America, on which were deposited corn, wine and oil, when 
the whole congregation joined in reverential prayer, which was succeeded by 
Masonic chanting honors, and a volley from the artillery. A sumptuous banquet 
closed the ceremonies. 

No act of General Washington was more historic than this, and yet it 
has found no place in the pages of our country’s history. The gavel which 
he used on the occasion was made from a piece of the marble used in con¬ 
structing the building and is now the valued possession of Lodge No. 9 
of Georgetown, while the little trowel, with its silver blade and ivory handle, 
is the cherished property of Alexandria-Washington Lodge. The apron 
and sash worn by the General during these ceremonies can also be seen in 
the sanctum of Washington Lodge, having been presented to the Lodge by 
the General’s nephew, Lawrence Lewis, for his son Lorenzo, in 1812. 

After the expiration of General Washington’s second presidential term, 
he returned to Mount Vernon to resume his favorite occupation of a farmer 
and to renew his social intercourse with his former neighbors, rejoicing in 
the prospect of a tranquil future. 

Letters of congratulation and testimonials of high regard came with 
every post and from all sections of the country. Among the first of these 
tokens of esteem to be received by him was an invitation from the Master 
of his own Masonic Lodge in Alexandria to dine with them, accompanied 
by a copy of an address congratulating him upon his return to private life, 
with prayers for his future happiness. Notwithstanding the great volume 
of accumulated business incident to long absence, he laid aside his labors 
and graciously accepted the invitation of his Lodge, as the following corre¬ 
spondence indicates and the records of the Lodge confirm: 

Alexandria, March 28, 1797. 

Most Respected Brother: Brothers Ramsay and Marsteller wait upon you 
with a copy of an address which has been prepared by the unanimous desire of the 
Ancient York Masons of Lodge No. 22. It is their earnest request that you will 


21 









THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 


partake of a dinner with them, and that you will please appoint the time most 
convenient for you to attend. 

I am, most beloved Brother, 

Your Most Obd't and humble serv’t, 


General George Washington. 


James Gillis, M. 


The address presented by Brothers Ramsay and Marsteller follows: 

Most Respected Brother: The Ancient York Masons of Lodge No. 22 offer 
you their warmest congratulations on your retirement from your useful labors. 
Under the Supreme Architect of the Universe, you have been the Master Workman 
in erecting the Temple of Liberty in the West, on the broad basis of equal rights. 
In your wise administration of the Government of the United States for the space 
of eight years, you have kept within the compass of our happy constitution, and 
acted upon the square with foreign nations, and thereby preserved your country 
in peace, and promoted the prosperity and happiness of your fellow-citizens. And 
now that you have returned from the labors of public life, to the refreshment of 
domestic tranquillity, they ardently pray that you may enjoy all the happiness 
which the Terrestial Lodge can afford, and finally be received to a Celestial Lodge, 
where love, peace, and harmony forever reign, and cherubim and seraphim shall 
hail you Brother! 

By the unanimous desire of Lodge No. 22. 

James Gillis, Master. 

General George Washington. 

To this address General Washington made the following reply: 

Brothers of the Ancient York Masons No. 22: While my heart acknowl¬ 
edges with brotherly love your affectionate congratulations on my retirement from 
the arduous toils of past years, my gratitude is no less excited by your kind wishes 
for my future happiness. If it has pleased the Supreme Architect of the Universe 
to make me an humble instrument to promote the welfare and happiness of my 
fellowmen, my exertions have been abundantly recompensed by the kind partiality 
with which they have been received. And the assurances you give me of your 
belief that I have acted upon the square in my public capacity, will be among my 
principal enjoyments of this Terrestrial Lodge. 

Go. Washington. 

General Washington attended the meeting and, while the minutes 
give only a meager account of the ceremonies, both the address of the 
Lodge and his reply are of record. These were read, after which the Lodge 
went in procession from their room to Mr. Albert’s tavern where they par¬ 
took of an elegant dinner prepared for the occasion at which the utmost 

harmony prevailed and a number of appropriate toasts were proposed_ 

the tenth (by Brother Washington) “The Lodge at Alexandria, and all 
Masons throughout the world,” after which he retired; the eleventh, “Our 
most respected Brother George Washington,” which was drunk with all 
Masonic honors. 


22 





ALEXANDRIA-WASHINGTON LODGE 


Washington was not permitted a long respite from the cares and con¬ 
cerns of public life. The government of France had assumed an ugly atti¬ 
tude toward this country before his retirement from office, and the menac¬ 
ing war clouds that hung low over the east began to deepen, so that before 
many months had rolled around the American Government was facing a 
critical situation. As a child turns to its parent for comfort and protection 
in the moment of affliction, so turned the President of the United States 
and all the people with one accord to the venerated sage at Mount Vernon, 
as their source of paternal refuge. Throwing aside personal consideration, 
he obeyed his country’s will in this as on every former occasion. 

For over half a century he had stood at attention, so to speak, ever 
ready to obey the command of the people he loved so well, but his watch 
was nearly finished; the thread of that well-spent life was nearly broken, 
and before the difficulty with France had been settled, as it eventually was, 
without the stern resort to arms, Washington, the friend of man, was no 
more. 

DEATH AND FUNERAL OF WASHINGTON 

The winter of 1799 came with its chilling blasts, and with it also came 
to Mount Vernon the unwelcome messenger of death. General Washington 
was its victim. His illness was sudden and of short duration. Seized with 
a cold on the twelfth of December, he treated it lightly at first, refusing 
medical attention until it was too late. Indeed, he was virtually in the 
throes of dissolution when his well-tried friend and family physician, Dr. 
James Craik, reached his bedside on the morning of the fourteenth. 

Realizing the serious condition of his distinguished patient, Dr. Craik 
immediately dispatched messengers for Dr. Elisha Cullen Dick of Alex¬ 
andria and Dr. Gustavus Brown of Port Tobacco, and the three practitioners 
were soon in earnest consultation; but despite the heroic efforts and com¬ 
bined skill of these eminent physicians, the rapid progress of the fatal 
malady could not be checked, and General Washington breathed his last 
at 10.20 P. M., December 14, 1799, in the sixty-eighth year of his life. 

Every Mason should be familiar with the part enacted by members of 
our Fraternity in the last illness of Washington, as well as the part taken 
as an organized body at his funeral. 

There is probably no occasion of a similar nature in the history of our 
Fraternity so essentially Masonic in all its detail as the obsequies of this 
great man, part of which, no doubt, was accidental or mere coincidence, 
while the rest was in accordance with a prearranged plan. 

The three physicians in attendance when Washington died were all 
Masons, and two of them, Doctors Dick and Craik, members of his own 
Lodge, Dr. Dick being its Master; while the third, Dr. Gustavus Brown, 
was the fifth Grand Master of Maryland. 

23 




THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 


The arrangements for the funeral were left to Dr. Dick (Master), 
Colonel George Deneale (Junior Warden), and Colonels Charles Little and 
Charles Simms, members of No. 22. There were four clergymen in attend¬ 
ance at the funeral, Reverends Dr. James Muir, Thomas Davis, and William 
Maffit of Alexandria, and Reverend Walter Dulaney Addison of Oxen Hill, 
Maryland, the first three being members of Washington’s own Lodge- 

Colonel George Deneale was in command of the militia; Captain Henry 
Piercy (Senior Warden), of No. 22, commanded his company, the Independ¬ 
ent Blues; Captain William Harper, the artillery; and Lieutenant John 
Ainsworth Stewart, Adjutant 106th Virginia Militia, aide to Colonel Deneale. 

The pall-bearers were officers of the revolution and all of them Masons 
and members of Lodge No. 22 except Colonel Philip Marsteller, whose son, 
Philip G., attended the funeral as a member of the Lodge. 

Pursuant to the arrangements of the committee, the body clothed in 
burial robes was borne from the death chamber at midnight, the “low 
twelve” of Masonry, to the state dining-room on the first floor, and the 
funeral was appointed for Wednesday, the 18th, at meridian. The late 
arrival of the Alexandria contingent, which consisted of the clergy, the 
Masonic Fraternity, military organizations and citizens of the town, forced 
a postponement of the interment, and it was not until three o’clock in the 
afternoon that the procession finally moved in the following order: 

The Troops, Horse and Foot. 

The Clergy. 

The General’s horse, with saddle, holsters, and pistols. 

(Led by two grooms, Cyrus and Wilson, in black.) 

Music. 

Guard. 

Pall-bearers. 

Colonel George Gilpin, 

Colonel Philip Marsteller 
Colonel Charles Little. 

Principal Mourners: 

Mrs. Stuart and Mrs. Law, Lord Fairfax and Ferdinando Fairfax. 

Misses Nancy and Sally Stuart, Mr. Law and Mr. Peter, 

Miss Fairfax and Miss Dennison, Mr. Lear and Dr. Craik, 

The City Council of Alexandria. 


Colonel Charles Simms, 
Colonel Dennis Ramsay 
Colonel William Payne, 


Alexandria Lodge, No. 22. 


Dr. E. C. Dick, Worshipful Master, 
Henry Piercy, Senior Warden, 
George Deneale, Junior Warden, 
David Wilson Scott, Secretary, 


Robert R. Jamesson, Treasurer, 

Will iam Bartleman, Senior Deacon, 
Josiah Faxson, Junior Deacon, 

John C. Kempff, Tiler. 


24 






ALEXANDRIA-WASHINGTON LODGE 


Space will not permit publication in this brochure of the full list of 
Masons present and participating in the ceremonies. Suffice it to say there 
were sixty in line of procession. (For full description see “Washington the 
Man and the Mason.”) 

The procession moved north from the portico to the north haha wall, 
then, turning to the right, they proceeded east to the walk, which leads in a 
southerly direction, along the side of the hill in front of the mansion, down 
to the tomb, where the military escort halted and formed lines on either side 
of the narrow avenue. Passing between the divided columns, the bier, 
bearing the eneoffined Washington, was placed at the door of the sepulchre. 
Dr. Dick and Reverend Thomas Davis, Rector of Christ Church in Alex¬ 
andria, took their stations at its head, the mourning relatives at its foot, 
and the Fraternity in a circle around the tomb, while the militia took their 
stations along the hill, back of the vault. 

The Reverend Dr. Davis broke the silence by repeating from the sacred 
writings: “I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in Me, though 
he were dead, yet shall he live.” Then, with bowed and reverent heads all listened 
to the voice of prayer; and as the holy words went on, as used in the beautiful 
and expressive burial service of the Episcopal Church, their soothing spirit was 
echoed in the responses of the multitude around. Mr. Davis closed his burial 
service with a short address. There was a pause, and then the Master of the 
Lodge performed the mystic funeral rites of Masonry, as the concluding ceremony 
at the burial of Washington. 

The apron and swords were removed from the coffin, for their place was no 
longer there. It was ready for entombment. The brethren one by one cast upon 
it an evergreen sprig, and their hearts spoke the Mason’s farewell as they bestowed 
their last mystic gift. There was a breathless silence there during this scene. 
So still was all around in the gathered multitude of citizens that they almost 
have heard the echoes of the acacia as it fell with trembling lightness upon 
the coffinlid. 

The pall-bearers placed their precious burden in the tomb’s cold embrace, 
earth was cast on the threshold, and the words were spoken: “Earth to earth— 
ashes to ashes—dust to dust!” and the entombment of Washington was finished. 
The mystic public burial honors of Masonry were given by each brother in due form. 
The mystic chain was reunited in a circle around the tomb; the cannon on the 
vessel, anchored abreast the mansion, boomed its minute guns, and the soldiery 
on the banks above them echoed their solemn burial salute and Mount Vernon’s 
tomb was left in possession of its noblest sleeper. (Hayden: “Washington and 
His Masonic Compeers.”) 

The evening was far advanced and deep shadows fell upon the familiar 
landscape around the beloved home of Washington before the Lodge with 
its military and civic escort took up the lonely march of seven miles over the 
snow-clad hills of Virginia, back to the little town of Alexandria. How far 


25 






THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 


away these things appear under the later splendor of man's achievement! 
Several hours were consumed by these devoted craftsmen in their tedious 
march through the gathering twilight from Mount Vernon to Alexandria, 
while in this day of rapid transit, tourists board a trolley or an automobile 
at Mount Vernon gate and, almost paralleling the road over which the 
funeral cortege wound its way, make the trip in thirty minutes. 

With the consent of the Grand Lodge of Virginia, in 1805, the name of 
Alexandria Lodge No. 22 was changed to Alexandria-Washington Lodge 
No. 22, the name and title it still bears. 

For nearly twenty years the Lodge had no permanent home, frequently 
meeting in buildings unsuited for such assemblies. The death of Washing¬ 
ton seems to have aroused the zeal and latent energies of the leading mem¬ 
bers, and as a result steps were taken to secure proper accommodations. 
Having raised the necessary funds, the first temple was erected on the site of 
the present more commodious structure and first occupied by the Lodge on 
the 16th of September, 1802. Immediately after the death of Washington 
and as testimonials of their friendship to the institution he loved, numerous 
mementoes of inestimable value were presented to the Lodge by the Gen¬ 
eral’s intimate friends and relatives, and notwithstanding the entire collec¬ 
tion was gratuitous, within a few years the sanctum became a perfect 
storehouse for these interesting souvenirs. Indeed so numerous were the 
gifts and so much space did the collection occupy that, as early as 1811, the 
Lodge was seriously embarrassed for room in which to confer its degrees. 
Consequently, on the 29th day of December of the year mentioned, a move¬ 
ment was started which resulted in the establishment of a museum to be 
attached to the Lodge. As a result of this effort, the City Council in 1818 
appropriated the entire third story of one wing of the City Hall, then just 
erected, to the purpose of this museum. Colonel Timothy Mountford, a 
venerable member, was appointed manager and custodian, and served in 
that capacity until the day of his death, March I, 1846. 

It was in this building that the Lodge received the distinguished Grand 
Master, friend and compatriot of Washington, the Honorable James 
Milnor, of Pennsylvania, in 1811; General Lafayette in 1825, and other 
distinguished visitors in ante-bellum days. 

A full account of Lafayette’s reception is given in the History of 
“Alexandria-Washington Lodge” and also in “Washington the Man and 
the Mason” and shows the unbounded enthusiasm which the presence of 
this noble Frenchman created in Virginia, nearly fifty years after the great 
struggle for independence had ceased. Shortly after Lafayette’s visit to 
this country came the great anti-Masonic wave with its baneful results. 
Born of ignorance and superstition, it was fostered by the machinations 
and unworthy ambitions of mercenary demagogues and for a time threat- 


26 






ALEXANDRIA-WASHINGTON LODGE 


ened the very life of the institution. Owing to the social and political ban 
placed on members of the organization, numbers of lodges passed out of 
existence, and from about 1826 to 1840 there was little of the Masonic 
spirit openly manifested throughout the country. The tide finally turned, 
the vituperation and libel ceased, and from that period on, Masonry rose 
in a perfect crescendo until it became the popular slogan of the most cul¬ 
tured and respectable classes as it had been before the craze began, and as 
it is today. 

The dark days of the Civil War proved the most trying period in the 
history of Alexandria-Washington Lodge. Many of its members were 
called to the front in active service and those who remained were embarrassed 
by military restrictions, but in this, as in every other span of its life, a 
vigilant and fearless guardian was present. 

Brother William H. Lambert, elected Master in 1860, served to June 
24, 1866, and to this worthy man and zealous Mason, probably more than 
to any other member, is due the credit and the gratitude of Washington 
Lodge for preserving intact, through that trying period, its inestimable 
treasures, including the Charter, that priceless parchment which contains 
the name of Washington as Master. 

The occupation of Alexandria by the Union soldiers in 1861 at first 
appeared to be a serious menace to the safety of these valuable possessions. 
Demands were made on Brother Lambert for admittance to the temple, and 
when this privilege was denied, violence was threatened to both his 
person and the Lodge. Brother Lambert appealed to the provost-marshal, 
who, though not a Mason, was what every Mason should be, a gentleman, 
and he promptly placed a guard at the door and saved the cherished me¬ 
mentoes now to be seen in the sanctum of the present temple. Indeed some 
of the more vindictive spirits had already gained admittance to the Lodge 
and were committing acts of vandalism when the guard arrived. They 
were quickly subdued, however, and driven from the premises, and after¬ 
wards, during the whole four years of fratricidal struggle, not a picture 
was moved from the walls or a hand raised except in defense, by the Union 
troops who occupied the city. 

From May, 1861, to May, 1865, the Lodge assembled upon but two 
occasions and then only to perform the last tribute of respect over the 
remains of two of its oldest members. 

Military strife at an end, the members who had not been claimed by 
the battle’s toll came back to their homes to take up anew the lagging work 
of the Order. New life was infused into the fraternal body and new blood 
injected into the sickly channels of its being, long since enfeebled through 
non-use, by the returning veterans after the dawn of peace at Appomatox. 
On the 19th of May, 1871, this gratifying condition was rudely interrupted 
by a disaster as serious as it was unexpected. The shrill claxon of the fire 

27 




THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 


engines, the ringing of bells and the frantic cries of the “watchmen” aroused 
the tranquil city to a sense of impending danger. “The City Hall and 
Masonic Temple are burning down” was the alarming news that greeted 
the sleepy multitude which rushed to the scene of conflagration. Brother 
Lambert was among the first to arrive. He had guarded the treasures 
through the somber days of a divided country torn with internal strife, and 
with unfaltering courage he now led the forces at hand to rescue them from 
the demon of fire. It is pleasing to testify that this venerated brother lived 
to see the institution he loved so well in the full swing of renewed vigor and 
prosperity, to see it rise to the very crest of the wave of national veneration; 
and was laid to his eternal rest, covered with well-earned honors and, what 
was infinitely better and more desirable, the unstinted affections and 
respect of those who knew him best. 

In spite of these brave efforts a large number of the relics were lost or 
stolen, of which the following is a partial list: 

The bier upon which the remains of Washington were borne to the tomb and 
the crape which floated from the door of his home to tell the sad news of his death. 

A picture of Martha, the wife of Washington, in her youthful days. 

A rare portrait of Washington and one of Lafayette. 

Washington's military saddle. 

Washington's card tables and portions of a settee which once stood in the Hall 
of Mount Vernon Mansion. 

Many original letters written by Washington. 

A flag used by an Alexandria Company in the Revolution and also one used in 
that war by the Richmond Rifle Rangers with the motto: “Nemo me impune 
lacessit.” 

The flag of Washington’s life-guard. 

The flag used by Paul Jones on the Bon Homme Richard. 

The model of the first French guillotine. 

A bust of the celebrated John Paul Jones, which was presented to Washington 
by Lafayette and adorned the dining-room of Mount Vernon. 

One of the candles used at the mass before the execution of Louis XIV. 

A cross made of three thousand pieces of wood, without nail, peg or glue. 

A saddle of crimson velvet, heavily embroidered with gold, sent as a present 
to Thomas Jefferson by the Dey of Morocco. 

The clothes of Tecumseh covering the life size figure representing the great 
Indian chief, killed by Colonel Richard M. Johnson of Kentucky, at the battle of 
the Thames in 1814. 

The model of a corn-planter invented by George Washington Parke Custis 
in 1790. 

A flag used by the Independent Blues of Alexandria in the War of 1812. 

After the erection of the present building in 1872 on the site of the old 
structure the relics saved from the fire were deposited in the new temple, 
where they can be seen at this time. Some of these, with brief descriptions, 
are shown in the illustrations of this work. 


28 






ALEXANDRIA-WASHINGTON LODGE 


THE WILLIAMS PICTURE 

FRONTISPIECE is a reproduction of the Williams picture 
Washington, which attracts as much attention as any relic 
the Lodge. In 1793 the Lodge, by resolution, requested, 
neral Washington, then President and living in Philadelphia 
to sit for this picture, and after obtaining his consent, employed Williams, 
of that city, to execute the work. Washington approved the likeness, 
and late in 1794 it was received from the artist and accepted by the 
Lodge. 

It is a flesh-colored pastel and pronounced by critics to be of superior 
quality. It is an entirely different conception from any other painting of 
the General extant, resembling in cast and feature the original Houdon 
statue in Richmond, Va., and is the only painting from life showing the 
General in extreme old age and in Masonic regalia. Having been ordered, 
received and accepted by the neighbors and Masonic contemporaries of the 
General, men who knew him intimately and were with him in every walk of 
his eventful life, who had followed his fortunes and shared his adversities 
in war, had counseled and supported him in peace, and who, when his 
labors ended, had sorrowfully laid him to his eternal rest, it is beyond 
reasonable conception that these men would have fostered on a credulous 
and confiding posterity a spurious picture of their friend and compatriot. 

An offer of one hundred thousand dollars was not sufficient to induce 
the Lodge to part w T ith this treasure, and wdiile probably sentiment has 
enhanced its value in the eyes of the Fraternity beyond its intrinsic worth, 
past association and its Masonic character prevent the possibility of future 
disposal. However urgent our wants or flattering the inducement, it will 
be kept in remembrance of that association for generations of Masons yet 
to come. 

The picture is devoid of idealism, the artist’s instructions being, “Paint 
him as he is,” and this Mr. Williams appears to have done, bringing out in 
bold relief several facial marks or blemishes which the General is known to 
have possessed, and which are shown in a modified form, if at all, by other 
artists. The disfiguring scar on his left cheek, spoken of by George Wash¬ 
ington Parke Custis in his reminiscences, the black mole under his right ear, 
and the marks of smallpox on his nose and cheeks are all clearly defined 
and unmistakable, and this fact adds much to the value of the famous 
pastel and arouses the deepest interest of both historic and art critics. 

The Lodge also possesses another picture of Washington by Peele 
known as the “Pope Peele Picture,” which is considered of great value. 



29 








THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 



30 






ALEXANDRIA-WASHINGTON LODGE 


EDMUND RANDOLPH 

DMUND RANDOLPH, whose picture is shown on the opposite 
page, had an interesting and eventful life. Born in Williams¬ 
burg in 1753, he was disinherited by his father for espousing 
the cause of the colonies. On August 15, 1775, he was appointed 
aide-de-camp to Washington, but upon the death of his uncle Peyton 
then President of the Continental Congress (1776) he resigned and 
returned to Williamsburg to settle his uncle's estate. He was a member 
of the Virginia convention which declared independence in 1776, and was 
elected first Attorney General under the new constitution. He was a del¬ 
egate to the Continental Congress 1779-1782, but resigned in 1782. He 
was a member of the Annapolis convention, September 11, 1786, and as 
such urged the calling of the Constitutional Convention. He was Governor 
of Virginia, 1786-1788, and leader of the Virginia delegation to the consti¬ 
tutional Convention of 1787. In this body he introduced the general plan of 
the instrument as agreed upon. In this convention he, with Mason, opposed 
a single executive, favoring an executive commission. He opposed re¬ 
eligibility of the President and his holding pardoning power; the Vice- 
Presidential office, and states having two senators irrespective of population. 
It was his motion that eliminated the word ‘slavery’ from the Constitution. 
He refused to sign the instrument unless a second national convention should 
act on it after submission to the people, but subsequently relented, and in 
the Virginia Convention of 1788 advocated its ratification as necessary to 
Union. On September 27,1789, President Washington named him Attorney 
General of the United States, in which office he served until the resignation 
of Thomas Jefferson, whom lie succeeded as Secretary of State, January 2, 
1794. He opposed the Jay Treaty as detrimental to national dignity, and 
in consequence of a misunderstanding with Washington, he resigned from 
the Cabinet and retired to private life. 

Edmund Randolph was an active Mason from early manhood, and 
participated in the organization of Williamsburg Lodge, June 24, 1774. 
In November 1784 he was elected Deputy Grand Master, and on the 27 
of October 1786 was elevated to the Grand East, serving as Governor of 
the Commonwealth and Grand Master of Masons at the same time with 
John Marshall as his Deputy Grand Master. During his last term 1788 he 
signed the charter of Alexandria Lodge No. 22. naming General Washington 
as the first Worshipful Master. He died at his home in Clarke County, 
Virginia, September 13, 1813. 



31 









THE M E M O R.'I A L TO WASHINGTON 



32 








ALEXANDRIA-WASHINGTON LODGE 


DR. DICK 

LISHA CULLEN DICK came to Alexandria during the 
Revolutionary War. He was one of the organizers of Lodge 
No. 39, and served as secretary of that Lodge at its initial 
meeting February 25, 1783, and was the last Worshipful Master 
under the Pennsylvania charter. In 1789 Dick succeeded Washington 
as Master of Lodge No. 22, and as such laid the first corner-stone of 
the District of Columbia in 1791. With his Lodge as escort of honor he 
accompanied General Washington and assisted in laying the corner-stone of 
the National Capitol in 1793. He was one of the three physicians who 
attended Washington in his last illness, and was at his bedside when he died. 
He presided at the funeral lodge called December 6, 1799, and was a member 
of the committee on arrangements, and performed the Masonic service at 
his funeral December 18, 1799. During the consultation with Doctors 
Brown and Craik the day before the General’s death, Dick protested against 
further bleeding of the patient, but was overruled by his associates. The 
following letter shows that at least Dr. Brown afterwards thought that 
the treatment opposed by Dick hastened Washington’s death: 

January 2nd, 1800. 

Dr. Broavn to Dr. Craik: 

I have lately met Dr. Dick again in consultation, and the high opinion I 
formed of him when we were in conference at Mount Vernon last month, con¬ 
cerning the situation of our illustrious friend, has been confirmed. You remember 
how, by his clear reasoning and evident knowledge of the causes of certain symptoms 
after the examination of the General, he assured us that it was not really quinsey, 
which we supposed it to be, but a violent inflammation of the membranes of the 
throat, which it had almost closed, and which if not immediately arrested would 
result in death. You must remember he was averse to bleeding the General, and 
I have often thought that if we had acted according to his suggestion when he 
said ‘he needs all his strength—bleeding will diminish it,’ and taken no more 
blood from him, our good friend might be alive now. But we were governed by 
the best light we had; we thought we were right, and so we were justified. 

Gustave R. Brown. 

Dick’s silk apron, worn at the funeral of Washington; his medicine 
scales, some of his medical books, and his duelling pistols are now among 
the valued possessions of the Lodge. When Dr. Dick first settled in 
Alexandria he was a member of the Episcopal Church. Soon after his 
arrival in that City he married a Miss Harmon of Philadelphia, who was a 
member of the Society of Friends, or Quakers. In later years he became 
a convert to the religious doctrines of his wife, while she, strange to say, 
joined the Episcopal Church. Dick died in 1828, and is buried in the 
Quaker cemetery on Queen Street in Alexandria. 



33 








THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 



34 






















ALEXANDRIA-WASHINGTON LODGE 



GROUP OF RELICS 

HIS COLLECTION, known as “The Washingtonia,” contains 
Washington’s Masonic Apron, worn by the General when 
Master and at the laying of the corner-stone of the Nation’s 
Capitol. It is of cream-colored satin, heavily fringed and 
embroidered in gold, with the French and American flags entwined. A bee¬ 
hive and fairies adorn the center. It was presented to the Lodge with the 
box below and the sash above in 1812 by Lawrence Lewis, nephew of the 
General and husband of his adopted daughter, Nellie Custis. The apron 
has seldom been worn since the death of the General, among the few 
instances being by General Lafayette in the Lodge, February 21, 1825; at 
the laying of the corner-stone of the Washington Monument in 1848; at 
the laying of the corner-stone of the Yorktown Monument by Grand 
Master Peyton S. Coles, 1881, and to confer the M. M. degree upon 
Lawrence Washington, February 22, 1910. 

On either side of the apron are the General's wedding gloves and, 
beneath, his farm-spurs; to the right, his pruning knife and a black glove 
worn by the General while in mourning for his mother; to the left, a little 
pearlhandled knife, a present from his mother when a boy (see cut); his 
pocket compass and bleeding instruments; a piece of sealing wax taken from 
Ids desk after death and last used by the General before dying; boot-strap 
or garter worn by the General at Braddock’s defeat. On the extreme right, 
near the top, is a copper plate owned and used by John Hancock to print 
his reception cards while President of the Continental Congress, and pre¬ 
sented to General Washington by the Hancock family after the dissolution 
of the old Colonial Confederacy. These were all given by the General’s 
nephew, Captain George Steptoe Washington, from 1803 to 1812. On 
the left of the pearl-handled knife is a button, cut from the General’s coat 
at his first inauguration and presented by Doctor James Craik, and to the 
left of the button, a piece of canvas from his army tent used during the 
Revolutionary War, presented by George Washington Parke Custis, his 
adopted son. In the lower right corner, a picture of Doctor Dick; Doctor 
Dick’s and Washington’s medicine scales and a medallion of Washington 
presented to the General as founder of free schools in Alexandria, Va., by 
D. Eggleston Lancaster, Esquire, founder of free schools in England, and 
other relics of importance, which space will not permit me to enumerate. 


35 







THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 



3G 







































ALEXANDRIA-WASHINGTON LODGE 


THE WASHINGTON CHAIR 

HE CHAIR shown here was occupied by General Washington 
when Worshipful Master of the Lodge 1788-89. It was in 
continuous use for 117 years, but as “constant dripping wears 
the stone” so this old chippendale which has borne its precious 
burden when new and strong, began slowly to yield to the grind of 
time and usage. The rips in the seat and arms were, however, the work 
of vandals, the ever present and unscrupulous relic fiend. To preserve it 
from further abuse, it was placed in a glass case and is now used only upon 
very important occasions. 

The fraine is mahogany inlaid with white holly and the upholstering is 
in leather, in the course of its long service many distinguished visitors 
have occupied it, among them, General LaFayette in 1825, President 
Taft, Vice-President Fairbanks and Marshall, Speaker Cannon and Admiral 
Schley. So far as the record shows it has never been recovered since it came 
to the Lodge in 1788. Several years ago a venerable member (Miley B. 
Wesson) who had resided in the west for nearly half a century wrote an 
interesting letter to the Lodge concerning the old furniture, in which he 
stated that when he was a young man a resolution was passed to have the 
Master’s Chair re-covered, and the Chair was actually sent to a local cabinet 
maker with orders to that effect, the older members learning of this action 
called an emergency meeting, rescinded the former action of the Lodge, and 
immediately demanded the return of the chair. The upholsterer, however, 
had removed the old cover. This they made him restore with the same 
tacks used in the first place, in doing so, the mechanic, (though he had been 
careful to preserve them) found that he was three tacks short, he was not 
allowed to substitute others, and if the visitor will look on the right as he 
faces the chair and near the top of the back he will see the vacant places 
for the missing tacks. The incident was not remembered by a single local 
member but the absence of the tell-tale tacks proves the truth of the narra¬ 
tive and though investigation has not been made it is not unlikely the 
records will further substantiate the story. 



37 









38 
























ALEXANDRIA-WASHINGTON LODGE 


THE OLD CLOCK 

OLD clock shown was the bedchamber clock of General 
shington. On the death of General Washington, Doctor 
dia Cullen Dick, Master of No. 22, and one of the attending 
vsicians, cut the pendulum cord and stopped the old time¬ 
piece at twenty minutes after ten P. M. After the funeral, Mrs. Wash¬ 
ington presented the clock to Doctor Dick for the Lodge. “Its work 
is done, but the hands still point to the minute and hour that marks the 
close of the greatest life in history.” It is said to be the only piece of 
furniture in the room at the time of the General’s death which has not 
been restored to its former place. The pendulum, with the catgut cord 
attached, is shown to the left of the clock. 



THE LESSER LIGHTS 

The Lesser Lights in the picture are the original lights of the Lodge and 
were used on the most important occasions in the history of the institution, 
among them the laying of the corner-stone of the District of Columbia, in 
1791, the National Capitol in 1793, and the funeral of General Washington 
in 1799, and the laying the corner-stone of the Washington Monument in 
1848, the Smithsonian Institute in 1847 and the Crawford Equestrian 
Statue in Capital Square, Richmond, Va. On this occasion. President 
Zachary Taylor and Ex-president John Tyler were present. Alexandria- 
Washington Lodge also attended the dedication of this wonderful group 
statue, February 22, 18.58, on which occasion Governor Henry A. Wise, 
representing the Commonwealth, received the famous work of art in a 
speech of great power. 


THE HOUR GLASS 

The hour glass is the original, except one column, which, having been 
broken, was replaced by a new one and the old column cut in small pieces 
for souvenirs. It has served as the emblem to teach the sublime lesson of 
human life from the beginning of the Lodge to the present time. 


39 






THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 



THE WASHINGTON TROWEL 

The little trowel in the illustration was used by General Washington, 
President of the United States, at the laying of the corner-stone of the 
National Capitol, September 18 , 1793 . The blade is of silver with an ivory 
handle. It was made by John Duffey, a silversmith of Alexandria, Virginia, 
who married the daughter of General Washington’s landscape gardener, 
The little implement of Masonry has been used on many important occa¬ 
sions, among the last being the laying of the corner-stone of the New Masonic 
Temple in Washington, D. C., by President Theodore Roosevelt and the 
Grand Master of the District of Columbia, and later to lay the corner-stone 
of the new Scottish Rite Cathedral in the national capital, by the Grand 
Master of the District of Columbia, Most Worshipful J. Claude Kieper, 
and the Supreme Grand Commander of the Southern Jurisdiction, Scottish 
Rite, James D. Richardson. The last occasion in which it was brought into 
service was to lay the corner-stone of the New Masonic Temple in Detroit 
September, 1922 . On this occasion it was used by Grand Master 
McKenzev and Secretary Denby, representing President Harding, who 
was unable to attend because of the serious illness of Mrs. Harding. 

Recently the Lodge has received through one of its new members the 
original plumb, square and level on which are silver plates properly in¬ 
scribed. The valuable relics were in the donor’s family for over half a 
century without knowledge of their real value. The inscription on the 
corroded silver plates states they were used at the ceremony of laying the 
corner-stone of the National Capitol. 


40 






ALEXANDRIA-WASHINGTON LODGE 



STORY OF THE KNIFE 

In 1746, when Washington was but fourteen years of age, his half- 
brother, Lawrence, with the assistance of William Fairfax, a near neighbor 
and father-in-law of Lawrence, secured for the youthful George a commis¬ 
sion as midshipman in the British Navy. All preparations had been made 
for his departure, when his mother’s message, her final command, forbidding 
the step, arrived. In obedience to that command and in deference to her 
wish, the boy surrendered his commission and returned to his studies, back 
to surveying and mathematics. Among the items of his mother’s next 
order to England for annual supplies was one for a good penknife. This 
she presented to the boy as a reward for his submission to her will, with the 
injunction, “Always obey your superiors.” He carried the token with him 
through life as a reminder of his mother’s command, and to General Knox 
explained its significance. At Valley Forge, when a vacillating and timid 
Congress failed to provide food and shelter for his ragged and starving army, 
in desperation and despair, yielding temporarily to his feelings and sym¬ 
pathy for his men and in disgust with Congress, he wrote his resignation as 
Commander-in-Chief, summoned his staff and notified them of his action. 
Among the officers present and sitting in council was Knox, who reminded 
him of the story of the knife and his mother’s injunction, “Always obey 
your superiors; you were commanded to lead this army and no one has 
ordered you to cease leading it.” Washington paused, and then replied, 
“There is something in that. I will think it over.” Half an hour later he 
had torn up his resignation, determined to fight to the end. 

Thus upon this slender thread, the story of a little knife, and a mother’s 
injunction, hung for one brief moment the future life of a great nation, whose 
governmental principles have enlightened and elevated humanity. A 
mother’s gentle command determined the course of a noble son and changed 
the map of the world. It was presented to the Lodge in 1812 by Captain 
George Steptoe Washington, a nephew of the General and one of the execu¬ 
tors of his will. The card attached states tiiat it was in Washington’s 
possession about fifty-six years. Partly legendary and partly historical, 
the narrative, like other tales of his childhood, serves to illustrate the 
character of the boy and the man. 


41 







THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 



42 












ALEXANDRIA-WASHINGTON LODGE 


PAINTING OF GENERAL LAFAYETTE IN 
WASHINGTON LODGE 

F ALL the patriotic figures of the Revolution, not one held or 
deserved to hold a higher place in the esteem and confidence 
of Washington, than the young Marquis de Lafayette. His 
heroic espousal of the cause of the Colonies, when a mere youth, 
and a chivalrous resistance of the tyranny and oppression of his native 
land, has created for him an ideal place in the history of both nations. 
The painting on the opposite side was executed in 1784, immediately after 
the Revolutionary War, and presented to the Lodge by an English admirer. 
It shows the Marquis in the uniform of a Continental General Officer at 
the age of twenty-seven. In 1824-25 Lafayette visited America for the 
last time and while on this trip was entertained by Washington Lodge at a 
called communication held February 21, 1825. In receiving the dis¬ 
tinguished guest, Dr. Thomas Semmes, Worshipful Master, addressed him 
as follows: “You have ever been revered as one of the pillars of our 
Temple. It affords me inexpressible pleasure to be the organ of my 
Brethren, here assembled, to welcome you into the bosom of this Lodge, 
in which your highly valued friend, the beloved ‘Father of Our Country,’ 
was wont to preside over our labors and inculcate the principles of our 
Order, Friendship, Morality, Brotherly Love and Charity. While it is 
our pride and boast that we had him to rule over us, we also esteem our¬ 
selves peculiarly happy in having you for our patron. When Masonry 
has such supporters, its principles will be maintained, its cause must 
flourish.” To which General Lafayette replied: “Worshipful Sir and 
Brethren of Washington Lodge, I receive with peculiar sensation this 
mark of kindness and attention and these expressions of esteem from my 
Masonic Brethren and it is particularly gratifying to my feelings to visit 
the Lodge over which our lamented illustrious Brother Washington pre¬ 
sided. I shall ever cherish a high regard for Masonry and pray you, 
Worshipful Sir, and the rest of the Brethren, to accept my particular and 
grateful acknowledgment.” On this occasion Lafayette presented the 
Lodge with the front door key of the Bastile, which, made by hand of 
wrought iron, weighs five pounds, a striking reminder of that house of 
horrors. The key with the silk sash containing the picture of Lafayette, 
worn by him in the Lodge on the occasion of his visit, is now kept in a 
glass case for security and protection. It would be interesting, if space 
permitted, to give the full account (still preserved among our old records) 
of this visit of Lafayette to the Lodge. The many pleasant and beautiful 
expressions of friendship and affection paid the gallant and now venerable 
Frenchman by his Revolutionary compatriots, who gathered for the last 
time to review the scenes of former struggles in the cause of American 
Independence. 



43 








THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 



44 








ALEXANDRIA-WASHINGTON LODGE 


DR. JAMES CRAIK 


R. JAMES CRAIK was born near Dumfries, Scotland, 1730, and 
emigrated to America in 1750; was surgeon in Washington’s 
first command and with him in the battle of Great Meadows, 
1754. For gallant conduct and meritorious service at the 
battle of Monongahela, 1755, Craik was officially commended. In 
1760 he married Washington’s cousin, Mariamne, daughter of Charles 
Ewell, of Belle Air, Prince William County, Virginia. He was Surgeon-Gen¬ 
eral in the Continental Army and Director of the Hospital at Yorktown. 
He was, perhaps, the most intimate friend of Washington, who refers to him 
in his will as “My old and intimate friend, Dr. Craik.” He was with the 
General in every battle he fought, from Great Meadows to Yorktown. 
He ministered to the dying Braddoek at Monongahela and saw the gallant 
Hugh Mercer breathe his last on the field of Princeton; dressed Lafayette’s 
wounds at Brandywine; was at the death bed of John Custis—Mrs. Wash¬ 
ington’s son— at Eltham, after Yorktown; with Washington when he passed 
to the great beyond, and soothed the dying moments of Martha, the wife 
of Washington. 

Dr. Craik’s son, George Washington Craik, studied medicine, but 
appears not to have engaged in general practice. He became Secretary to 
General Washington in his second administration. A tradition in the 
Craik family informs us that General Washington claimed the privilege 
of educating this son of his old friend and compatriot, being his namesake, 
and did educate him accordingly. George Washington Craik \yas Post Master 
of Alexandria in 1807 and 1808, in which office he was succeeded by Col. 
Geo. Gilpin, a Revolutionary officer, and one of the honorary pall-bearers 
at Washington’s funeral. 

The picture on the opposite page was made from a painting in Alex- 
andria-Washington Lodge, and shows the subject at, perhaps, thirty years 
of age. 

Dr. Craik died at Vauclause, near Alexandria, February 5, 1814, in 
the eighty-fourth year of his life, and was interred in the burial grounds of 
the old Presbyterian Church on South Fairfax Street, Alexandria, in an 
unmarked grave. His Masonic apron is one of the cherished heirlooms of 
the Lodge. 



45 












CHAPTER THREE 

WHY BUILD A MEMORIAL TO 
WASHINGTON THE MASON? 


HE STUDENT of Masonic history must acknowledge that Wash¬ 
ington was the most revered Freemason of his day. Masonic 
constitutions were dedicated to him; lodges were named in his 
honor, and wherever he journeyed, whether in a private or 
public capacity, distinguished consideration was accorded him by the 
most eminent leaders of the fraternity acting in their capacity as such, and 
by the Grand and Subordinate Lodges from the Canadian border to the 
southern limits of this nation. This feeling, it must be remembered, pre¬ 
vailed at a time when nearly all his renowned contemporaries were zealous 
and active workers in the cause of the institution, at a time when such men 
as Paul Revere of Massachusetts, General John Sullivan of New Hampshire, 
Robert Livingston and General Jacob Morton of New York, James Milnor 
of Pennsylvania, Edmund Randolph and John Marshall of Virginia, Generals 
Henry Richardson Davies and Richard Caswell of North Carolina, General 
Modica Gist of South Carolina, General James Jackson of Georgia, and 
others of their type, as Grand Masters of their respective jurisdictions, were 
directing the affairs and shaping the destinies of the Order in America. He 
was selected as the first Grand Master of Masons in Virginia upon the organi¬ 
zation of that Grand Lodge in 1778, but declined “the important office” 
because oi duties in the tented field,’ and when the subject of organizing 
a general Grand Lodge was proposed during the Revolution, his was the 
only name considered for the exalted station of General Grand Master. 
Upon his death not only did the Masonic bodies in the United States drape 
their temples and rooms in mourning but those of Canada and even England 
also put on this symbol of grief as a token of respect for their most illus¬ 
trious brother.” 

For a hundred years we have carelessly guarded our rights. We have 
permitted, with only feeble opposition and that in a sporadic and individual 
sense, the dissemination of libelous propaganda, the object of which was 
and still is to pervert the great truths of Masonic history and to cloud in 



46 











WHY BUILD A MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON? 


doubt the fealty of its most illustrious votaries. It lias been persistently 
stated at different periods that Washington, Marshall, Clinton, Jackson, 
Randolph, and others either openly renounced Masonry or were not mem¬ 
bers of the Order at all. The covert object of all such claims (which have 
been entirely disproved in each case) must be obvious to every thoughtful 
member of the craft and should be rebuked by the whole institution in the 
most convincing and determined manner possible. But let it be done in a 
way consistent with the dignity and high purpose of our venerated frater¬ 
nity. Not by indiscreet vituperation through the public press or boastful 
claims to superiority from the rostrum, but by the more enduring and 
effective process of symbolizing in granite and in marble the achievements 
of the great master builders of the fraternity for the welfare and the hap¬ 
piness of all mankind. 

The Memorial to Washington in its colossal form will typify the power 
and strength of Masonry, in its graceful outlines and proportions it will 
symbolize the beautiful tenets of our institution, but above all it will express 
the unfeigned loyalty and devotion of the American Mason to the ideals 
of Washington and his Masonic compatriots. 


WHY LOCATE THE MEMORIAL IN ALEXANDRIA, VA.? 

Alexandria was the home town of Washington. His brother Lawrence, 
with whom he lived at Mount Vernon from 1746 until the death of Lawrence 
in 1752, was the leading spirit in founding the city in 1749, and one of its 
first trustees. From early youth to the day of his death Washington took 
an active part in the public affairs of the locality as the following brief sum¬ 
mary will show. There, with headquarters at the old City Tavern which is 
still standing, he recruited his first command in 1754, and there, in 1755, in 
the now historic Carlyle House he received his commission as Major on 
Braddock’s staff and from there he started in April, 1755, on that tedious 
march to the fatal field of Monongahela. He represented the town in the 
House of Burgesses from 1763 to the beginning of the Revolution, 1774; 
was a member of the town council and its magisterial court; vestryman in 
the parish; Master of its Masonic Lodge; founder of its first free school and 
fire department; surveyed its streets and maintained an office in the town 
for the transaction of local business. He was a stockholder in its first bank 
(organized 1792) and upon his death endowed the school he established in 
1785 with the stock he held in this bank. There at Gadby’s Inn, February 
11 (O.S.), 1798, he and his family joined in the first public celebration of his 
birthday, and from the steps of this same old hostelry in November of 1799 
he held his last military review and gave his last military command to the 
Alexandria Independent Blues. It was his voting place and his market. 


47 





THE MEMORIAL TO * WASHINGTON 


Alexandria physicians ministered to his dying wants; Alexandria Freemasons 
arranged the funeral and performed the Masonic ceremony; its clergy, the 
religious rites; its citizens formed the funeral cortege and its soldiers paid 
the only military tribute over the bier of the departed chieftain. After his 
death his will was recorded in Alexandria. There lived his lifelong friends 
and neighbors, and the whole community for miles around is a veritable 
museum of history redolent with the spirit and abounding in the traditions 
of W ashington and his compatriots. 


48 
































CHAPTER FOUR 

THE MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION 


HE MOVEMENT to erect a memorial to Washington, the 
Mason, in Alexandria, Virginia, was largely the result of a 
prevailing condition and not entirely original with Alex¬ 
andria Masons. While the subject of a fireproof structure 
for the preservation of the Washington relics owned by 
Alexandria-Washington Lodge had been frequently dis¬ 
cussed and at one time as much as thirty thousand dollars subscribed 
toward the erection of such a building, sentimental attachment to the old 
home and other reasons of a like nature predominated and the undertaking 
was finally abandoned. This effort was entirely local, confined to local 
interests, and contained none of the national features of the present more 
comprehensive plan. 

The ordinary American has strong nomadic tendencies of an aristo¬ 
cratic character. He loves to travel if he can do so, without inconvenience 
and in comfort, for which he is, as a rule, willing to pay, and of all places 
in America Washington is perhaps the favorite resort for this type. 

Mount Vernon, until quite recently, was somewhat sequestered. 
The overland route was tedious and rough, while a single boat made but one 
trip a day from our national capital to the home and tomb of Washington. 
The completion of the Washington Virginia Electric Railway between the 
national capital and the great American mecca in June, 189G, and later the 
construction of a concrete highway between these points via Alexandria, 
materially changed this condition. The establishments of these routes 
placed Alexandria in the immediate line of travel and brought Alexandria, 
Washington Lodge and other historic places in that city within the compass 
of the human tide which flows with ever-increasing volume to the sacred 
shrine on the Potomac, eight miles below. 

A very large proportion of the visitors to the home of Washington are 
Masons or their families. In consequence of this, it was not long after the 
establishment of railroad communication with the celebrated homestead 
that the demands upon the officers and members of the Lodge to gain ad¬ 
mittance to the sanctum and view the relics grew to be a serious burden, 
and in a short while it became necessary to open its doors and place a eus- 



49 
















THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 


todian in charge. The movement was vigorously opposed at first, but 
necessity finally compelled the favorable action. On May 1 , 1907, Brother 
Park C. Timberman was appointed first custodian, which position he held 
until his death, February 10, 1911, when the present Brother George W. 
Zachary was duly installed. Like the superintendency of Mount Vernon, 
though on a more limited scale, the position is one of great and constantly 
increasing responsibility, requiring the most sedulous care. The vandal 
and relic hunters are apparently everywhere and ready at all times to carry 
away the most worthless or the most valuable souvenir accessible. No 
place is too sacred, no risk too great for these invaders, and increasing 
vigilance is the only possible safeguard against their insidious depredations. 

During the first year the Lodge was open to the public (1907), only six- 
hundred visitors sought admission, while in 1922 over forty thousand passed 
through its doors. In 1922 a night watchman was placed in the temple as 
an additional safeguard. 

The installation of a custodian in the Lodge and the opening of 
its doors to the public introduced a new era. As a result of this changed 
condition many influential members of the Craft visited the old institution 
while on their pilgrimage to the home of Washington and became in¬ 
terested in the preservation of the relics. Observing the lack of fire pro¬ 
tection for the relics which were considered of inestimable value to the 
Craft at large, they invariably expressed the opinion that Alexandria was 
the logical site for a national memorial to Washington, the Mason; “a 
place,” these sojourners said, “so inseparably associated with him as a 
man and a Mason, should be made the mecca for the American Fraternity.” 

Most of these suggestions, however, were made with a view to protecting 
the possessions of the Lodge and not with any idea of forming a national 
Masonic Association or society. 

After much delay, the subject being taken up in the Lodge and fully 
discussed, it was finally determined that no movement which had the sofe 
object of procuring better quarters for the Lodge or greater security for its 
possessions at the expense of others was consistent with true Masonic prin¬ 
ciples. It was argued that Washington Lodge, owning its temple and free 
from debt, could not consistently ask the Masons of the United States to 
contribute to the erection of a more luxurious home for their comfort with¬ 
out identification in some way regardless of the objects in view. This being 
the sense of the Lodge, a committee was appointed to fully investigate the 
subject, and, as a result of their report, eleven members of the local Frater¬ 
nity were selected to compose what should be known as the Local Memorial 
Temple Committee. 

This committee consisted of Leopold Ruben, Chairman, Dr. William VI. 
Smith, J. K M. Norton, Edward H. Kemper, Louis C. Barley, Samuel W. 
Pitts, Robert W. Fuller, Robt. W. Arnold, Alfred G. Uhler, Charles H. 


50 





THE MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION 


Callahan and J. E. Shinn, the Worshipful Master of Alexandria-Washington 
Lodge. Charles H. Callahan was elected Secretary, and desk room for the 
committee was provided in his office with Miss Jessica Callahan, daughter of 
the Secretary, as temporary assistant. Miss Callahan, having other em¬ 
ployment, conducted the correspondence at night under the supervision of 
her father until the installation of Miss Elsie M. Hamilton as permanent 
stenographer and assistant to the Secretary. The great mass of correspond¬ 
ence which opened the way and kept the Masons of America in touch with 
the Memorial project in the years of its struggling infancy, was performed 
by these very faithful and very efficient young ladies. 

In connection with the early work of this movement, another item of 
information, which ought to be recorded to preserve the details, is the part 
played by the ladies along other lines and in other agencies. In the begin¬ 
ning it became necessary to raise a large initial fund, which was accomplished 
by holding a bazaar or fair. At the head of this enterprise was placed the 
late Mrs. Kate Carlin, a sister of Ex-Governor Pattison (deceased) of Penn¬ 
sylvania, with Miss Cora Cochran as her assistant. The bazaar, under 
their supervision, was a success, and sufficient funds were raised to start the 
movement without encumbering the local lodges. Since then Miss Cochran 
has managed every entertainment of the local committee, including the en¬ 
tertainments for the memorial meetings, with a corps of lady assistants and 
without the slightest remuneration, contributing by their efforts no small 
share to the success which has marked the progress of the movement. 
Suitable resolutions were adopted by the Lodge, giving the committee full 
power in the premises, and Most Worshipful Joseph W. Eggleston, Grand 
Master of Masons in Virginia, was requested to approve the movement and 
to assist in the organization of a National Memorial Association. 

Endorsing the committee’s plan, Most Worshipful Eggleston, in the 
fall of 1909, extended the first invitation to the several Grand Masters of the 
United States to assemble in Alexandria on the 22nd of February, 1910, for 
the purpose of organizing a National Masonic Memorial Association with 
the object of erecting a memorial to Washington, the Mason. This letter 
was followed by an urgent appeal from the Lodge, and as a result of these 
communications eighteen representatives of Grand Lodges assembled in 
the Masonic Temple in Alexandria at the appointed time, February 22, 
1910, and with Most Worshipful William B. McChesncy, who had succeeded 
Brother Eggleston in the Grand East, presiding, began the serious considera¬ 
tion of the subject in question. 

Grand Master McChesnev, in opening the convention, gave the move¬ 
ment his unqualified endorsement. He said in part: 

By the grace of God and the invitation of Alexandria-Washington Lodge, No. 
22, we are here today to form an organization, which we hope will be as lasting 
as the memory of him whose birthday we celebrate. In the beginning I wish to 


.51 





THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 


state that this is a function entirely of Alexandria-Washington Lodge. I, like 
other representatives from other Grand Jurisdictions, am an invited guest. They 
have conceived this to be something that is due the nation. Having, for their 
first Master, Worshipful Brother George Washington, they necessarily feel that 
he is of them and is theirs. They have priceless relics of his life surrounding 
them, and as they wish to preserve them for the benefit of Masonry in a national 
sense, propose to make this a national organization. If they desired to erect a 
building simply as an ornament to their city or for the comfort of their Lodge, 
the sale of these cherished heirlooms at public auction would yield a sum sufficient 
to build the finest temple in Virginia, but appreciating their history and believing 
that the other Grand Jurisdications feel as deeply interested in Brother Washington 
as they do, they come before you with this proposition, that the matter may be 
taken up as a national project. 

After concluding his address, Most Worshipful McChesney, on motion, 
appointed the following committee on permanent organization: Honorable 
James D. Richardson, Supreme Grand Commander, Southern Jurisdiction, 
A. A. S. R., Chairman; General Tlios. J. Shryock, Grand Master of Mary¬ 
land; Delmar D. Darrah, Deputy Grand Master of Illinois; Henry Banks, 
Grand Master of Georgia; Henry H. Ross, Past Grand Master of Vermont: 
Thomas J. Day, Past Grand Master of Delaware; John H. Cowles, Grand 
Master of Kentucky; James R. Johnson, Grand Master of South Carolina; 
and Wm. H. Nichols, representative of the Grand Master of Texas; who 
after several hours of deliberation, reported: 

Whereas Alexandria, Virginia, was the home town of George Washington, 
he being a member of its Council, a vestryman in Christ Church, and first Master 
of Alexandria Lodge, No. 22; Alexandria’s citizens first celebrating his birthday, 
its soldiers, physicians, ministers and Masons ministering to him in life and death, 
the Alexandria-V ashington Lodge, possessing, as priceless heirlooms, many of the 
personal effect and Masonic Treasures of this man, “whom Heaven left childless 
that a nation might call him father,” and 

Whereas, it has been aptly said that “until time shall be no more, will a 
test of the progress, which our race has made in wisdom and virtue, be derived 
from the veneration paid to the immortal name of Washington,” now therefore 
be it 


Resolved, first, that we approve and endorse the proposed erection of a Masonic 
Temple as a memorial to George Washington, under the auspices of Alexandria- 
Washington Lodge, No. 22, A. F. & A. M., of Alexandria, Virginia. 

That we pledge our earnest support to this commendable undertaking, and 
that all Grand Masters are earnestly requested to call the same to the attention 
of the lodges within their several jurisdictions, and urge upon them their hearty 
cooperation and assistance. 


52 





THE MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION 


Done in the city of Alexandria, Virginia, on the twenty-second day of February, 
A. D.1910. 

The resolutions were unanimously adopted and the time appointed for 
permanent organization, February 22, 1911, after which these signatures 
were attached: 

Lawrence II. Lee, Grand Master of Alabama. 

Oscar Lawler, Past Grand Master of California. 

F. A. Verplank, Grand Master of Connecticut. 

Tlios. J. Day, Grand Master of Delaware. 

George C. Ober, Grand Master of the District of Columbia. 

Henry Banks, Grand Master of Georgia. 

Delmar D. Darrah, D. G. M. of Illinois. 

John II. Cowles, Grand Master of Kentucky. 

Thomas J. Shrvoek, Grand Master of Maryland. 

Allton H. Sherman, D. G. M. of New Jersey. 

James R. Johnson, Grand Master of South Carolina. 

James D. Richardson, Supreme Commander, Southern Jurisdiction A. A. S. R., 
P. G. M. of Tennessee. 

\Vm. H. Nichols, P. G. M. of Texas, representing T. C. Yantis, G. M. of 
Texas. 

Henry R. Ross, Grand Secretary, representing the Grand Master of Vermont. 

Win. B. McChesney, Grand Master of Virginia. 

Henry E. Burnham, P. G. M. of New Hampshire. 

Frank Wells Clarke, Grand Master of West Virginia. 

Wm. S. Linton, for Arthur M. Hume, Grand Master of Michigan. 

Thirteen years have gone behind since this devoted band of Freemasons, 
representing eighteen jurisdictions, assembled in the sanctum of Alexandria- 
Washington Lodge to consider its proposal to erect a Memorial to Washing¬ 
ton the Mason, as recorded in the foregoing chapter. In point of numbers 
it was not an imposing assembly and, with the exception of the serious and 
determined manner in which those present considered the subject, was not 
calculated to impress one as significant of great results. All around these 
high-purposed men were the revered heirlooms of W ashington. Many ol 
these inanimate objects had received his kindly touch, and others had been 
intimately associated with him in life and had come to the Lodge as gratui¬ 
ties from "his relatives and friends. The Master’s chair he had presented to 
the Lodge himself, while the old clock, long since silent, had once stood upon 
the mantelpiece in his bed-chamber and was perhaps the first and last 
object to meet his glance upon arising or retiring, now pointing to the hour 
and minute of his dissolution, was the gift of his faithful wife. There 


53 





THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 


on the wall was the strong and benevolent face of Lord Fairfax, his early 
employer, his preceptor and patron, and there was Lafayette, his noble 
compatriot, and Edmund Randolph, who, as Grand Master of Virginia, 
had appointed him Charter Master of the Lodge. There also was his old 
and intimate friend, Dr. James Craik, and close by Craik was his own 
image from the skillful brush of Williams—all looking down upon the scene 
from a background of canvas as if conscious of its import. Such, briefly 
stated, was the environment which gave inspiration to that group of zealous 
craftsmen who approved the object of Alexandria-Washington Lodge, to 
organize the George Washington Masonic National Memorial Association 
on February 22, 1910. No man present on that occasion can ever forget 
it. The spirit of Washington and his Masonic compeers seemed to pervade 
every recess of the building and to lend enchantment to the great object in 
view. 

Following this meeting on May 10, 1910, Grand Master McChesney 
sent this circular letter to the various Grand Masters in the United States 
accompanied by a prospectus containing a synopsis of the proposed 
organization: 


Staunton, Va., May 7, 1910. 

To the Masons of the United States: 

In compliance with an invitation extended by Alexandria-Washington Lodge, 
No. 22, A. F. & A. M. of Alexandria, Va., I had, on February 22nd, 1910, the 
pleasure of attending, and the distinguished honor of presiding over a meeting 
called for the purpose of organizing a National Association to assist in erecting a 
memorial to Washington, the Mason, at Alexandria, Virginia. There assembled 
on that occasion eighteen duly accredited representatives of Grand Lodges, who 
were enthusiastic over the proposition and proceeded at once to formulate a plan 
for the organization, as is fully set forth in this prospectus. You will observe 
that the Association is to be national in its character, every Grand Jurisdiction 
standing on an equal footing in the Memorial Association, with equal rights and 
privileges. 

As Grand Master of Masons in Virginia, I fully endoise the movement and 
will render any assistance in my power to make it a success and worthy of our 
illustrious brother, George Washington. It should be expressly understood that 
the Grand Lodge of Virginia will take her place in the Memorial Association 
when perfected on an equal footing with other Grand Lodges and will neither 
receive nor expect special rights, meeting as always on the level. This movement, 
one so long delayed, will, I believe, appeal to every member of the Craft, and I 
heartily commend it to every Grand Lodge and to every individual Mason as 
worthy of favorable consideration. 

Faithfully and fraternally yours, 

William B. McChesney, 

Grand Master. 


54 








THE MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION 


ORGANIZATION OF THE ASSOCIATION 

Pursuant to the agreement of February 22, 1910, the meeting for organ¬ 
izing the permanent association was held February 21 and 22, 1911. This 
session, like that of 1910, was congregated and presided over by Most 
Worshipful William B. McChesney, Grand Master of Masons in Virginia. 
Upon the conclusion of the opening ceremonies, the Chair ordered the roll- 
call by states, and the following representatives responded: 

A. B. Ashley, G. M. of Illinois; Henry H. Ross, G. S. of Vermont; Thomas 
J. Day, P. G. M. of Delaware; John H. Cowles, P. G. M. of Kentucky; James R. 
Johnson, G. M. of South Carolina; F. E. Harrison, P. G. M. of South Carolina; 
Wm. B. McChesney, G. M. of Virginia; John Hull, G. M. of North Dakota; Wynd- 
ham Stokes, G. M. of West Virginia; W. H. L. Odell, P. D. G. M. of Massachusetts; 
Henry Banks, P. G. M. of Georgia; M. J. Hull, P. G. M. of Nebraska; Wm. L. 
Andrews, D. G. M. of Virginia; Senator Geo. E. Chamberlain, representing G. M. 
of Oregon; Hon. W. R. Ellis, representing Grand Lodge of Oregon; J. IJ. McLeary, 
representing G. M. of Porto Rico; R. T. W. Duke, Jr., P. G. M. of Virginia; Arthur 
H. Armington, P. G. M. of Rhode Island; Robert R. Burnam, G. M. of Kentucky; 
Robert C. Stockton, representative of Kentucky; Randolph B. Chapman, G. M. 
of Connecticut; F. W. Havens, Grand Secretary of Connecticut; Richard N. 
Hackett, G. M. of North Carolina; G. Roscoe Swift, G. M. of Michigan; James E. 
Dillon, D. G. M. of Michigan; Lawrence H. Lee, G. M. of Alabama; Geo. A. 
Beauchamp of Alabama; A. B. McGaffey, G. M. of Colorado; Henry L. Ballou, 
G. M. of Vermont; Alexander A. Sharp, G. M. of Kansas; Hon. Samuel Pasco, 
representing G. M. of Florida; Thos. J. Shvrock, G. M. of Maryland; Julius F. 
Sachase of Pennsylvania; John Albert Blake, P. G. M. of Massachusetts, and J. 
Claude Keeper, G. M. of the District of Columbia. 

Immediately after roll-call the Chair, on motion, appointed a Com¬ 
mittee on Constitution, consisting of: 

Jas. R. Johnson of South Carolina, Chairman; John Albert Blake of Massa¬ 
chusetts, A. B. Ashley of Illinois, Lawrence II. Lee of Alabama, John J. Hull of 
North Dakota, Robert R. Burnam of Kentucky, Henry Banks of Georgia, R. T. 
W. Duke of Virginia, and W. R. Ellis of Oregon. 

The committee retired and in due time reported the result of its labors. 
Adopting the preamble agreed upon in 1910, it presented for considera¬ 
tion a draft of a constitution and by-laws, containing fourteen sections. 
The original of this instrument had been prepared in the interim between 
the meetings in February, 1910 and 1911, by Charles H. Callahan, the local 
secretary, and is still in his possession. At the suggestion of Brother James 
R. Johnson, the Association was given the name of the George Washington 
Masonic National Memorial Association, the name it now bears. 


55 







THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 


Immediately after the adoption of the preliminary constitution the 
council proceeded with the election of officers for the permanent Association. 
Upon motion the rules were suspended, and Most Worshipful Thomas J. 
Shryock, Grand Master of Masons in Maryland, nominated by Past Grand 
Master Judge R. T. W. Duke, Jr., representative of the Grand Lodge of 
Virginia, was unanimously elected and installed as the First President of 
the George Washington Masonic National Memorial Association. Accept¬ 
ing the position with its grave responsibilities, General Shryock gave assur¬ 
ance of his high appreciation of the unusual honor conferred upon him, 
pledging his best efforts to the interest of the undertaking. He urged active 
cooperation in every Grand Jurisdiction to further the interest and make the 
movement a success, after which the following were nominated and elected 
for a term of two years: 

James M. Lambert on, S. G. D. of Pennsylvania, First Vice-President; James 
R. Johnson, P. G. M. of South Carolina, Second Vice-President; Albert B. VIc- 
Gaffey, P. G. M. of Colorado, Third Vice-President; Albert B. Ashley, P. G. VI. 
of Illinois, Fourth Vice-President; Lawrence H. Lee, P. G. VI. of Alabama, Secretary; 
Dana J. Flanders, P. G. VI. of Massachusetts, Treasurer; Rev. Wm. J. VIorton, 
Rector of Christ Church, Chaplain; and the following were appointed to the 
subordinate offices by the President: H. K. Field, G. J. D. of Virginia, and J. 
Edwards Shinn, P. VI. of Alexandria-Washington Lodge, Stewards: with George 
W. Zachary, Tiler and Custodian of Alexandria-Washington Lodge, Sentinel. 

The convention concluded its labors at twelve o’clock on the twenty- 
second, when, after luncheon, the distinguished delegation was taken to 
Mount Vernon by special trains. Returning about 4 P. M., Alexandria- 
Wasliington Lodge was opened in due and ancient form and the Master 
Mason’s Degree conferred. President Taft, with his aide, the late lamented 
Major Archibald Butt, arriving about 5.30 P. VI., were received in the 
Lodge and presented from the East. He remained an interested observer 
of the work, expressing gratification and pleasure at being permitted to be 
present at such an important function, and later declared with enthusiasm 
that he had enjoyed every minute of the exercises. 

The ceremonies closed with a banquet and celebration of the natal 
day of General George Washington by Alexandria-Washington Lodge, 
which the Association attended in a body, and it was in his address at this 
function that President Taft gave his first endorsement to the George 
Washington Vlasonic National Memorial Association. 

It is impossible to give a full list of all the distinguished guests present 
or to enumerate their expressions of approval of the memorial undertaking. 
From every part of our great nation and from almost every calling and 
profession in life, the most distinguished representatives of the °Craft 
assembled to lay the foundation for a permanent organization which will 


5G 





THE MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION 


stand not only as an eloquent testimonial of our veneration for Washing¬ 
ton and his Masonic compeers, but to the energy and zeal of the present 
generation of Masons, assimilating the thought and welding in closer union 
and fraternal bondage every section of our glorious republic. 

The great and representative assembly of Masonic dignitaries which 
gathered to organize this association marked an era in the history of Amer¬ 
ican Masonry. The character of those selected to lead the new Association 
is convincing evidence of the importance of the undertaking, and their 
acceptance of the duties and responsibilities should be ample endorsement 
to the Fraternity at large. 

THE SECOND MEETING OF THE ASSOCIATION 

General Sliryock being prevented by illness from attending, the second 
annual meeting of the Association was called to order at 10 A. M., Wednes¬ 
day, February 21, 1912, by the first Vice-President, Right Worshipful 
James M. Lamberton. 

At the conclusion of the opening ceremonies, Most Worshipful William 
L. Andrews, Grand Master of Virginia, in a well-timed and sympathetic 
address, welcomed the Association to the Jurisdiction of Virginia. 

After reading the minutes, the roll was called by states and the repre¬ 
sentatives recorded below responded to the call of their jurisdiction: 

Lawrence II. Lee, P. G. M. of Alabama; Justen Holden, G. M. of Connecticut ; 
George A. Kies, P. G. M. of Connecticut; Frank W. Havens, P. G. M. of Connecti¬ 
cut; Tlios. J. Day, P. G. M. of Delaware; J. Claude Keiper, P. C>. M., and Ben W. 
Murch, G. M., of the District of Columbia; Geo. M. Napier, G. M., and T. H. 
Jeffries, P. G. M., of Georgia; A. B. Ashley, P. G. M. of Illinois; Martin A. Morrison, 
representative from Indiana; John H. Cowles, P. G. M. of Kentucky; Jas. E. 
Dillon, G. M., and Francis D. Clarke, representative of Michigan; John Albert 
Blake. P. G. M., and Wm. II. L. Odell, D. D. G. M., of Massachusetts; Wm 
Boothe Price, representative of Maryland; J. T. Carter, representative from New 
Hampshire; Wm. B. McKoy, G. M., and John W. Cotton, P. G. M., of North 
Carolina; Wm. L. Gorgas, G. M., Jas. M. Lamberton, G. S. D., and Julius F. 
Sachse, of Pennsylvania; Cornelius B. Parker, representative of Porto Rico; 
Wendell R. Davis, acting G. M., and Arthur II. Armington, representative, of 
Rhode Island; Jas. R. Johnson, P. G. M., and F. E. Harrison, P. G. M., of South 
Carolina; Henry L. Ballou, G. M. of Vermont; William L. Andrews, G. M., and 
Wm. B. McChesney, P. G. M., of Virginia. 

At the conclusion of the roll-call, the acting president appointed the 
following committees: 

Committee of Revision of Constitution: Jas. R. Johnson, of South 
Carolina, Chairman; John Albert Blake, of Massachusetts; Albert B. Ashley, of 
Illinois; William L. Gorgas, of Pennsylvania; George M. Napier, of Georgia; John 
H. Cowles, of Kentucky; William B. McChesney, of Virginia; James E. Dillon, 
of Michigan. 


57 





THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 


Committee on By-Laws: J. Claude Iveiper, G. INI. of the District, of Columbia, 
Chairman; William Boothe Price, of Maryland; William L. Andrews, of Virginia; 
Justen Holden, of Connecticut. 

These committees, by resolution, were merged into one under the title 
of Committee on Constitution and By-Laws. 

Committee on Seal: Ilenry L. Ballou, \ ermont; William B. McKoy, North 
Carolina; C. B. Parker, Porto Rico; Wendell R. Davis, Rhode Island; Ben W. 
Murch, District of Columbia. 

Committee on Rules and Order of Business: Thomas J. Day, Delaware; 
George A. Ivies, Connecticut; John W. Cotton, North Carolina; T. A. Jeffries, 
Georgia; Wm. II. L. Odell, Massachusetts; F. E. Harrison, South Carolina; Francis 
D. Clarke, Michigan. 

Immediately after appointment the several committees retired and 
began the consideration of the subjects assigned, and late in the evening 
the Committee on Constitution and By-Laws announced its readiness to 
report, followed in due time by the other committees. Chairman James R. 
Johnson, in presenting the revised constitution to the convention, an¬ 
nounced that the joint committee had decided to change the title of the 
document from “Constitution” to “Constitution and By-Laws.” The 
instrument was then taken up and considered by sections, finally approved 
as a whole, and laid over for ratification in 1913. 

The second annual convention then, after prayer by the Reverend 
Harry Marvin Canter of Alexandria, adjourned, and President Taft, with 
his aide, Brother Archibald Butt, both of whom had been interested guests, 
accompanied the Association on their annual pilgrimage to Mount Vernon 
to place a wreath upon the tomb of Washington. 

Few, if any, legislative bodies have ever considered the problems of 
state with more diligent, dignified and thoughtful care than was given to 
this subject by the representatives of the Grand Lodges present and par¬ 
ticipating in the organization of this, the first National Masonic Association 
in the history of the American Order. National in scope and representative 
in character, it accords special privileges to none and equal rights to all 
Grand Jurisdictions, Sovereign or Supreme Grand Bodies, who officially 
identify themselves with the organization. 

At the meeting in 1913 the constitution, held over from 1912, was laid 
before the convention and, after thorough discussion, was ratified without 
material change. Some suggestions relating to the best methods of collect¬ 
ing the fund were made, but no definite plan agreed upon for several years. 
During this time the Association devoted its efforts mainly to increasing its 
membership, and in this they were greatly encouraged. It was largely a 
work of education, and of creating sufficient interest in the remote jurisdic- 


.58 











THE MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION 


tions to induce the Grand Ledges to send representatives was no easy task. 
But that the collection of the necessary fund would be materially simplified 
if this could be accomplished was the opinion of those in charge, and sub¬ 
sequent results have proven the wisdom of their judgment. The most en¬ 
couraging feature of these years of seeming inactivity was in the constantly 
increasing numbers of representatives in attendance at the annual meetings. 
At the preliminary meeting in 1910 there were only eighteen delegates 
present; in 1911, twenty-three; in 1912, twenty-seven; in 1913, thirty-six; 
1914, forty-five; and at the last meeting in 1923, over one hundred. At 
this time (1923) only one Grand Lodge has failed to endorse the movement, 
and it is confidently expected that this Grand Body will join when the 
nature of the Association is thoroughly understood. 

In the death of the first President, Most Worshipful Thomas J. 
Shryock, in 1917, the Association sustained a serious loss. Aggressive and 
efficient, with over thirty years’ experience as Grand Master of Maryland, 
he had thrown the full weight of his influence and untiring energy into 
the enterprise and lost no opportunity to foster its interest. 

To fill the place of such a capable and persevering leader was no easy 
task, but the old adage that there is always a man for the place proved 
true in this instance as it has in many others, and the Association found 
an ideal successor to Brother Shryock in Colonel Louis A. \\ atres, P. G. 
M. of Pennsylvania. Prudent, sagacious and determined, with a long 
record of successful achievements in public and fraternal circles, he has 
by his example and precept revitalized the whole project, injecting into 
the work the spirit of his own optimism and incomparable energy. The 
movement under Brother W atres’ direction has been reduced to an 
organized system for enlightening the masses of the fraternity in the 
objects and nature of the Association and collecting the fund. In 1921 
the constitution was slightly amended to meet the conditions which 
had developed since its ratification in 1913, and in 1923 the Association 
was incorporated under the laws of "\ irginia. 1 he following extracts from 
the constitution and by-laws will give further information concerning the 
nature of the Association as it now stands. 


CONSTITUTION 
Article II 

Section 1. The objects of this Association shall be to erect and maintain in 
the City of Alexandria, Virginia, a suitable Memorial Temple to George Washington, 
the Mason, one which shall express in durability and beauty the exalted and 
undying esteem of the Freemasons of the United States for him in whose memory 
it shall stand through the coming years, 


59 





THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 


Section 3. To provide a place where the several Grand Jurisdictions, members 
of the Association, may perpetuate, in imperishable form, the memory and achieve¬ 
ments of the men whose distinguished service, zealous attachment, and unswerving 
fidelity to the principles of our Institution merit particular and lasting reward. 

Section 4. To create, foster, and diffuse a more intimate fraternal spirit, 
understanding and intercourse between the several Grand Jurisdictions and 
Sovereign Grand Bodies throughout the United States and her insular possessions, 
members of this Association; to cherish, maintain and extend the wholesome 
influence and example of our illustrious dead. 


Article III— Membership 

Section 1 . The membership of this Association shall be divided into three 
classes: Active, Associate and Honorary. 

The Active Members of the Association shall be the Grand Lodges of the 
United States and her insular possessions, which have joined this Association, each 
Member Grand Lodge to be represented at the meetings of the Association by its 
Grand Master or his proxy, and by other duly authorized and accredited repre¬ 
sentatives. 

The Associate Members of the Association shall be each Life Member, whether 
an individual or a Sovereign, Grand or subordinate body in Masonry in the United 
States and her insular possessions, and all others who officially participated in 
the formation of this Association at the meetings in 1910-11 and 1912. 

The Honorary Members of the Association shall be those whom the Association, 
at its regular meetings, by unanimous ballot, as a special and particular honor, 
may elect Honorary Members; which membership, however, shall not confer any 
of the rights and privileges accorded the Active and Associate Members of this 
Association. 

Section 2. Any Member of the Association who shall be legally deprived of 
the rights and benefits of Masonry shall, by virtue of such action, be deprived 
of all rights and privileges of Members of this Association, and shall not be admitted 
to any of the meetings of the Association nor participate in any of the transactions 
of its business. 


BY-LAWS 

Article II— Meetings 

Section Regular Meetings. The Association shall meet annually at Alex¬ 
andria, Virginia, on the 21st and 22nd days of February in the Memorial Temple, 
when built, and in the hall of Alexandria-Washington Lodge No. 22, A. F. 
A. M., until the completion of the Temple; provided that when the 21st or 22nd 
of February shall fall on Sunday, said meeting shall be held on the following Monday 
and continue until adjournment. 


60 





THE MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION 


Section 2 —Special Meetings. Special meetings of the Association may be 
called by the President, or upon the request of the Grand Masters of at least seven 
Member Grand Lodges, to transact urgent business requiring immediate attention, 
in which case each Active Member of the Association shall have at least thirty 
days’ notice in writing. 

Section 3— looting. Each Life Member, having paid to the Association the 
sum of at least one hundred dollars ($100.00), whether an individual, a Grand 
Lodge, subordinate lodge, or any Sovereign or constituent body in Masonry, shall 
he privileged to cast one vote either by person or by duly authorized representative 
in writing; or in all cases excepting that of an individual, by a representative 
duly authorized in writing, under seal of the Lodge or constituent body; provided, 
however, that no person shall act as proxy for more than one body; and provided, 
further, that whenever a roll-call is demanded by the representative of one or 
more Active Members of the Association, the roll of Active Members only shall 
be called, each Active Member being entitled to one vote. 

The Masons of America are contributing the fund to erect the Me¬ 
morial. The officers, directors and committees in charge of the enterprise 
are their trustees and servants, delegated by the Memorial Association to 
execute their orders. In view of this, we have thought it proper to not 
only give their names and the localities in which they live but to submit 
for general information a limited biographical sketch and, where possible, 
photographs of the present officers, board of directors, architects and con¬ 
tractors. 


61 






62 







THE MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION 


OFFICERS 


HON. LOUIS A. WATRES, PRESIDENT 

A summary of tlie activities of Hon. Louis Arthur Watres reveals a life 
crowded with service. In Masonry the record tells of him as Past Master of 
Peter Williamson Lodge No. 323, of Scranton; Grand Master of Masons of 
Pennsylvania, 1910 and 1917; Member of Committee on Masonic Home 
of Grand Lodge, 1910 to 1921; an Honorary Thirty-third Degree, A. A. S. R., 
Northern Jurisdiction; a member of Coeur de Lion Commandery; Keystone 
Consistory; Irem Shrine; and President of the George Washington Masonic 
National Memorial Association. 

The military career of Colonel Watres covered twenty-two years of 
service, he having entered as a private in the National Guard of Pennsyl¬ 
vania. During that time he served as Colonel of the 11th Regiment In¬ 
fantry; Colonel of the 13th Regiment Infantry; Division Judge Advocate; 
General Inspector of Rifle Practice; Member of the State Armory Board 
since its organization, and at present; and President for two years of the 
Pennsylvania National Guard Association. 

A Republican in politics, he served nine years as County Solicitor; 
eight years as State Senator; Lieutenant-Governor of Pennsylvania and 
President of the Board of Pardons four years, and held other positions of 
importance. 

Included in his varied business interests were the building of the street 
railway from Scranton to Pittston, and from Scranton to Old Forge; the 
organization and development of the Spring Brook Water Supply Com¬ 
pany and its forty-four subsidiaries. He is President of the Mansfield 
Water Company, of the Lackawanna Publishing Company, the Scranton 
Trust Company, County Savings Bank, Nay and Elmhurst Boulevard, 
Scranton Board of Trade, and Trustee of the American Surety Company of 
New York, and is interested in many other enterprises. 

He takes an active and sympathetic part in the philanthropic work of 
his community; is President of the Lackawanna Branch of the Pennsylvania 
Association for the Blind, a Director of the Pennsylvania Association for 
the Blind, Trustee of the Pennsylvania Oral School for the Deaf, Chairman 
of the Board of Trustees of the Young Women’s Christian Association, 
member of the Advisory Board of the Home for the Friendless, and for 
years President of the Boy Scout movement and one of its most earnest 
supporters. 


G3 





THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 



HARRY G. NOYES 

3d Vice Pres. 


JAMES E. DILLON 

2d Vice Pres. 


JAMES R. JOHNSON 

1st Vice Pres. 


BERT s. LEE 

4th Vice Pres. 


J. CLAUDE KEIPER 
Secretary-Treasurer 


G4 






THE MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION 


He has always been constructive and is accustomed to large things. 
Under his guidance and leadership the 13th Regiment Armory, the largest 
in the state, was erected. Under his management and leadership the Spring 
Brook Water Company grew from a sixty thousand dollar company to a 
twenty million dollar enterprise. 

In every project for the common weal he is first in the thoughts of his 
fellow-citizens. His home life is ideal. From his door at Pen-y-Brvn he 
can view the historic and picturesque valley from which his gifted mother, 
who wrote under the nom-de-plume “Stella of Lackawanna,” drew' in¬ 
spiration for her writings. 

It is of interest, in connection with his presidency of the George Wash¬ 
ington Masonic National Memorial Association, that the parents of Louis 
Arthur Watres gave to the place in which he was born, amid the sheltering 
hills of northeastern Pennsylvania, the name of Mount Vernon. 

JAMES R. JOHNSON, FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT 

James R. Johnson was born at Charleston, S. C., 1862, and is prominent 
in mercantile as well as Masonic circles. While never seeking public 
office of any kind, he served in the City Council of Charleston for a number 
of years and, as chairman of the Finance Committee, took a leading part in 
civic improvements, and to him, this writer is informed, can be largely 
accredited the development of street and other civic improvements wdiich 
have made Charleston one of the most attractive cities of the South and 
worthy of its romantic and historic past. He w T as made a Mason in 1893; 
is a member of various branches of both Rites, being a Thirtieth Degree 
S. R. A. 0. N. of M. S., v^as elected G. M. of S. C. in 1910 and again in 
1911; thrice illustrious G. M. of R. & S. M. of S. C. in 1903 and 1904; 
Potentate of Oasis Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., 1902. From the very first, 
G. M. Johnson has been a zealous and active supporter of the Memorial 
movement, attending all the meetings except one; was on the committee 
which reported the resolution endorsing the movement in 1910 and Chair¬ 
man of the Committee on Constitution, February 22, 1911, taking a con¬ 
spicuous part in the formation of the permanent organization; and with his 
colleagues, P. G. M. Frank E. Harrison and Geo. T. Bryan, has placed his 
Jurisdiction in the forefront of the Southern States, Virginia not excepted, 
in collecting the fund. 

JAMES EDMUND DILLON, SECOND VICE-PRESIDENT 

James Edmund Dillon was born in Plantegenet, Ontario, 1859; moved 
to Michigan with his parents in 1870; is a pharmacist by profession; was 
raised in Baldwin Lodge, No. 274, F. & A. M., in 1892; w'as Worshipful 
Master in 1894-95; after serving in several subordinate positions, was 


65 





THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 


elected Grand Master of Michigan in 1911; received the Chapter degrees 
in Iosco Chapter, No. 83, R. A. M., serving as High Priest in 1918-19; 
received the Council degrees in Sahgonahkato Council, No. 58, at Alpena; 
is a member of Bay City Commandery, No. 26, K. T., and of Bay City 
Consistory, A. A. S. R., and received the thirty-third degree honorary for 
the Northern Jurisdiction at New York, 1917. Brother Dillon was one of 
the organizers of the Association and has been a zealous worker for the 
enterprise ever since. The Grand Lodge of Michigan made the first large 
appropriation to the Memorial Fund, and it was through his untiring 
efforts, supported by other strong influences, that the subscription was 
obtained when the movement was in its infancy. 

HARRY G. NOYES, THIRD VICE-PRESIDENT 

Harry G. Noyes was born at Gorham, N. H., June 15, 1874, and was 
educated at Gorham High School, Westbrook Seminary, Portland, Me., 
Tufts College and Boston University Law School. He served several years 
as Master of Gorham Lodge No. 73, passed through the chairs in North 
Star Commandery, served as Deputy Lecturer of the 5th Masonic District 
and later as District Deputy Grand Master, and as Grand Master of New 
Hampshire for two years, and was a member and officer in the Grand 
Commandery and in the Consistory. In 1922 he was crowned a thirty- 
third at Cleveland. He also served one year as Grand Patron of New 
Hampshire of the Order of Eastern Star. He has practiced law for the 
past twenty-five years and has served many years as Judge of the Municipal 
Court at Gorham. He is also chairman of the M. S. A. 

BERT S. LEE, FOURTH VICE-PRESIDENT 

Bert S. Lee is a native of Missouri and is a descendant of the celebrated 
Virginia family of that name. For over ten years he has been President of 
the Springfield Grocery Company, the largest wholesale grocery firm in 
southwestern Missouri. He is treasurer of the Board of Stewards, St. Paul’s 
Methodist Episcopal Church South; former President of the Springfield 
Chapter of Sons of the American Revolution; member of the Chamber of 
Commerce, Country Rotary Club; Court of Honor of the Boy Scouts in 
Springfield and member of the National Council ;and Treasurer of theSpring- 
field Masonic Temple Association. He is a Past Master of Gate Temple 
Lodge; was District Deputy Grand Lecturer from 1910 to 1912; was ap¬ 
pointed officer in the Grand Lodge 1912, advanced and was elected Grand 
Master, October, 1922. He was elected Grand Commander K. T. 1911 and 
is Deputy Grand Master of the General Grand Council. He is a member 
of the A. A. S. R. and President of the Scottish Rite Club at Springfield. 
His Masonic history is full and replete with all the honors the fraternity 
in Missouri can bestow upon a favorite son. 


60 





THE MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION 


J. CLAUDE KEIPER, SECRETARY-TREASURER 

J. Claude Keiper, who, like the First and Second Vice-Presidents, 
was one of the founders of the Association, was born in Pennsylvania in 
1869 and is a lawyer by profession. In February, 1921, Brother Lawrence 
H. Lee, who had served the Association as Secretary continuously and 
most efficiently since its organization, felt impelled by reason of pressure 
of private business and distance from the central headquarters to resign 
from that position, and Brother Keiper was unanimously elected as his 
successor. Upon the resignation from the office of Treasurer in July, 1921, 
of Brother John H. Cowles, who had most capably filled this office for 
many years and who, in addition to securing a very considerable part of 
the first funds raised, remains to this date the largest individual contributor 
to the funds of the Association, Brother Keiper was appointed to fill the 
unexpired term. At the meeting of the Association in 1922, the offices of 
Secretary and Treasurer were combined, and he was elected to fill both 
offices with the title of Secretary-Treasurer. Raised in Columbia Lodge, 
No. 3, Washington, D. C., 1895, he has filled successively the various inter¬ 
mediate offices and was elected and installed as Grand Master of the Dis¬ 
trict, December, 1910. He was High Priest of Mount Vernon Chapter, 
No. 3, R. A. M., in 1901, Commander of Washington Commandery, No. 1, 
K. T., 1908-09, and is a member of Almas Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., 
all of the District of Columbia; and a member and officer of all the Scottish 
Rite bodies of the District, being at this writing \\ ise Master of Evangelist 
Chapter, Rose Croix. He received the thirty-third degree of the Rite in 
October, 1921. Possessed of tireless energy and a genius for detail work, he 
has filled the various offices to which he has been called with conspicuous 
ability, his term as the executive officer of the several bodies being especially 
successful. 


67 





THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 



W. L. DANIELS 


WALTER L. STOCKWELL 


ALBERT E. BOYNTON 


CHAS. H. CALLAHAN 


COL. GEORGE M. NAPIER 


68 











THE MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION 


BOARD OF DIRECTORS 

WALTER L. STOCKWELL 

Walter L. Stockwell was born at Anoka, Minnesota, January 12, 1868, 
his parents being among the pioneers of that state. After passing through 
the common and high schools of Anoka he entered the University of Minne¬ 
sota, from which he graduated in June, 1889. Moving to North Dakota, 
he for years engaged in educational work, being Principal of Schools at 
St. Thomas, North Dakota, 1889 to 1891 ; Superintendent of Schools at 
Grafton. N. Dakota, 1891-93; State Superintendent of Public Instruction, 
North Dakota, 1903 to 1911. 

He received his Master Mason's degree in 1891, R. A. in 1892, K. T. in 
1893, and is a member of A. A. S. R. and member of the Mystic Shrine. 
After passing through the chairs in the various subordinate bodies, he was 
elected Grand Master, A. F. and A. M., 1902-03, Grand High Priest, R. A. 
M., 1923, Grand Commander, K. T. (honorary), 1922, and Grand Patron, 
O. E. S., 1920-21. He has been a member of the Executive Committee, 
Masonic Service Association, since 1918, and Director of the George Wash¬ 
ington Masonic National Memorial Association since 1921. He is President 
of the Board of Trustees of Fargo Public Library and member of the local 
and state A". M. C. A. boards and is Grand Secretary and Grand Recorder 
of the Grand Lodge and Grand Commandery of North Dakota. This 
record shows a life of constant service and is, on its face, evidence of the 
intrinsic worth of the subject. 

W. L. DANIELS 

William L. Daniels, of New Jersey, is a retired business man and has 
been active in Masonic work for many years. He was raised in Bay View 
Lodge No. 146, New Jersey, December, 1901. Passing up the line of 
officers, he became master of that lodge in 1908. He served as District 
Deputy Grand Master of the Sixth District from 1910 to 1916, in which 
year he was elected Junior Grand Warden. Filling all the subordinate 
offices successively, he was elected Grand Master in April, 1919. He is a 
thirty-third degree A. A. S. R., Northern Jurisdiction. He has taken an 
active and important part in the Memorial enterprise and it is largely 
through his efforts that the Grand Jurisdiction of New Jersey ranks among 
the first in raising its cjuota for the Memorial fund. 

ALBERT E. BOYNTON 

Senator Albert E. Boynton was born at Oroville, California, on Octo¬ 
ber 9, 1875, and received bis preliminary education in the Oroville Union 


69 







THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 


High School and graduated from the University of Michigan in 1900. 
Still retaining his legal residence at Oroville where he has business interests, 
he resides in San Francisco. He served as trustee of the City of Oroville 
in 1906-07; was elected to the State Senate in 1906 from the Sixth District 
and served continuously until 1915; was President pro tem. California 
Senate, 1911 to 1915. He was Republican Elector in 1916 and in 1920, and 
in 1919 he was appointed, by Governor Stephens of California, chairman of 
the California Committee on Efficiency and Economy. He has been a 
member of the State Board of Prison Directors since 1920, and is chairman 
of the Republican State Central Committee. He served as president of 
the Commonwealth Club of California, 1918-19; is a member of the Sutter 
Club of Sacramento and of the University, Olympic, Union League, Com¬ 
monwealth, Commercial and Masonic Clubs of San Francisco. He is a 
member of the San Francisco, California, and American Bar Associations. 

He was made a Mason in Oroville Lodge No. 103 at Oroville, California, 
May 25, 1897, and passed through the line of offices of the above lodge. 
He is a member of the R. A. C. and R. and S. M. In April, 1923, he was 
elected and installed Grand Commander, K. T., of California. He is a 
member of Islam Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S.; St. Francis Conclave No. 15, 
Order of the Red Cross of Constantine, of which he was sovereign in 1922; 
San Francisco Pyramid No. 1, A. E. O. S.; Order of the Eastern Star, and 
one of the charter members of the Masonic Club of San Francisco. He 
was Orator of the Grand Lodge of California, F. & A. M., in 1919-20, and 
is the present Junior Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge of California. 

CHARLES H. CALLAHAN 

Charles H. Callahan was born at Aquia Mills, Stafford County, Vir¬ 
ginia, on August 22, 1858. In 1875 his parents moved to Fairfax County, 
where he was educated in the public schools. Moving to Alexandria about 
1889, he was elected Deputy Commissioner of Revenue of that city in 
1895. In 1898 he was elected Commissioner and has served continuously 
in that office to the present time without opposition. He was raised in 
Alexandria-Washington Lodge No. 22, A. F. and A. M., in 1904, passed up 
the line of offices and was elected Worshipful Master in December, 1909, 
and served two terms. He was District Deputy of District No. 1 in 1913* 
and was elected Grand Junior Deacon of the Grand Lodge of Virginia in 
1918. Passing through the several intermediate stations, he was elected 
Deputy Grand Master in 1922, which position he now occupies. He is an 
honorary member of the Grand Lodge of South Carolina; Constitutional 
Lodge, Beverly, England; Liberty Lodge, Beverly, Massachusetts; and 
Andrew Jackson Lodge in Alexandria. He is a member of Mount Vernon 
Chapter No. 14, R. A. M., Alexandria Consistory, A. A. S. R., Acca Temple, 


70 





THE MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION 


A. A. 0. M. S., and of Martha Washington Chapter, 0. E. S. of Alexandria. 
He is a life member of the Memorial Association, with which organization 
he had been connected from its inception, and has served continuously as 
local secretary from the organization in 1909 to the present time. He 
wrote the resolutions adopted by the representatives at the preliminary 
meeting in 1910, and the constitution of the Association, which, after slight 
changes, was reported in 1911 and ratified in 1912. He is the author of 
“Washington the Man and the Mason,” a memorial to Washington, and of 
numerous short sketches of an historic nature. In 1923 he received the 
first gold medal awarded by the Alexandria Kiwanis Club to the citizen 
having rendered the most distinguished service to the city during the year 
1922-23. 


COLONEL GEORGE M. NAPIER 

Colonel George M. Napier was born on farm in Walker County, Georgia. 
His ancestors were among the early settlers in Virginia and his great-grand¬ 
father, Rene Napier, was born there. Col. Napier’s grandfather had eight 
sons in the Confederate army, several of whom rose to distinction, among 
these being Captain Napier, father of the subject of this sketch. Colonel 
Napier received his education in the schools of Walker County, the Military 
College at Dahlonega, passed the bar examination and was admitted to 
practice in the courts of Georgia, after which he graduated with the degree 
of Master of Arts at the University of Georgia. He at one time owned 
and edited the Walton News and later founded the Walter Tribune. Colonel 
Napier is now the head of the well-known law firm of Napier, Wright and 
Wood, of Atlanta. In November, 1913, Governor John M. Slaton appointed 
him solicitor of the Stone Mountain Judicial Circuit and in 1914 he was 
elected to the same position, receiving more than 5,000 out of the 7,000 votes 
cast, and upon the death of the Circuit Judge he was tendered the vacant 
office but declined. Col. Napier is now the Attorney General of Georgia. 
He is an ex-president of the Commercial Law League of America, and is the 
second southern man ever to be honored with this office. His record in the 
Masonic fraternity is equally interesting as is his business and profession. 
He is a thirty-second degree A. A. S. R., member of the Commandery and 
of the Shrine and a Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Georgia. 
Colonel Napier is also active in church and charitable work. He is a member 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church and teacher of its Bible Class and is 
now president of the Sunday School Board of the North Georgia Conference. 
For twenty-five years Colonel Napier has taken an active interest in 
Georgia military affairs and for nine years was Judge Advocate General 
of the Georgia National Guard with the rank of Colonel. Thus runs the 
summary of a useful life, although not half has been told or could be told 
in the space allotted. 


71 





THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 



OWEN SCOTT 


MELVIN M. JOHNSON 


ANDREW L. RANDELL 


JUDGE WM. S. FARMER 


ARTHUR K. LEE 


72 






THE MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION 


OWEN SCOTT 

Owen Scott was born at Effingham, Illinois, July (5, 1848, and was 
educated in the public schools. He is a member of Macon Lodge No. 8, 
Macon Chapter No. 21, R. A. M., Baumanior Commandery No. 9, K. T., 
all of Decatur, Illinois, and of the Scottish Rite at Springfield, Illinois. 
He was Worshipful Master, Effingham Lodge No. 149, and later of Wade 
Barney Lodge No. 512, Bloomington, Illinois; District Deputy Grand 
Master for the fifteenth district and on the Committee on Foreign Corre¬ 
spondence for six years; was Grand Orator in 1882 and 1907; was elected 
Junior Grand Warden in 1889, passed through the subordinate chairs and 
was elected Grand Master in 1895 and served until 1897. In 1921 he was 
elected Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Illinois and is still occupying 
that position with credit to himself and his jurisdiction. 

MELVIN M. JOHNSON 

Melvin M. Johnson is of “old New England” stock, being a descendant 
of Captain Edward Johnson, who came to this country in 1628 and was 
a noted author, explorer, surveyor and leader in civic affairs and who made 
the first map of the territory of Massachusetts colony, established the 
boundary line between Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and was one of 
the founders of the town of Woburn and Surveyor General of the 
Colonies. Melvin M. Johnson, the son of the Honorable B. B. Johnson, 
first mayor of the city of Waltham, Massachusetts, was born in that eity 
on May 11, 1871. The degrees of Ph. B. and A. B. were conferred upon 
him by Tuft’s College in 1892, and the degree of LL.B. vuigna cum laude by 
Boston University Law School in 1895. He was admitted to practice in the 
Massachusetts Courts in 1895, and in the Supreme Court of the United 
States in 1903. In 1895 he formed a law partnership with his father and 
since 1908 has been one of the firm of Johnson and North. He has never 
held political office. He is a member of the American Bar Association and 
of the Massachusetts and Boston Bar Associations, and of Theta Delta Chi 
(general college fraternity), Phi Delta Phi (legal fraternity) and a Phi Beta 
Kappa, and of the Boston Athletic Association, Boston Masonic Club, 
Algonquin Club and the Tuft’s College Club of Boston (ex-president). 
He is Vice-President and Director of the Engineering-Economics Foun¬ 
dation, Director of the New York Trap Rock Corporation, Trustee of the 
Farrington Memorial and several other corporations, as well as Professor 
of Law in Boston University and a Trustee of Tuft’s College. 

His Masonic record is equally interesting and is in part as follows: 
Master of Monitor Lodge of Waltham, Massachusetts, 1902 and 1903; 
District Deputy Grand Master, Fifth District, 1904 and 1905; Grand 
Marshal of Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, 1906-1908, Senior Grand 


73 






THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 


Warden, 1909, and Grand Master in 1914-1910. He is a member of 
Waltham R. A. C. of the R. & S. M. of the K. T. and an active thirty-third 
degree, A. A. S. R., Northern Masonic Jurisdiction. In 1919 and 1920 he 
represented the New England Division on the Executive Commission of the 

M. S. A., and from 1910 to 1920 inclusive was Wee-President of the George 
Washington Masonic National Memorial Association, since which time he 
has been a director and member of the Executive Committee of this Asso¬ 
ciation. This brief review shows a life crowded with large responsibilities, 
and the constantly ascending scale proves to the observant mind the mental 
capacity and moral status of this worthy son of New England. 

WILLIAM S. FARMER 

William S. Farmer was born at Hailesborough, St. Lawrence County, 
New York, July 18, 1801, and was educated in the public schools at Hailes¬ 
borough and at Wesleyan Seminary, at Gouverneur, New York. He 
studied law with the late Judge Yasco P. Abbott at Gouverneur and in 1882 
was admitted to the bar at the General Term of Supreme Court at Saratoga, 

N. Y. While a law student, he was clerk to the Surrogate’s Court of St. 
Lawrence County. In 1889, he located at Kinball, South Dakota, where 
he engaged in the practice of law and as Yice President and Managing 
Director of the Farmers and Traders Bank of that place. He returned east 
and engaged in the practice of law at Syracuse, New York, in 1891, and was 
senior member of the law firm of W. S. & II. II. Farmer for a number of 
years and until 1915, when he was appointed judge of Municipal Court, 
which position he still holds. 

Masonically, he is a member of Central City Lodge, No. 305, at 
Syracuse, New York, and was worshipful master in 1899-1900. He is also 
a member of Central City Chapter, Commandery, and of the A. & A. S. 
Rite. He was crowned honorary thirty-third at Boston, in September, 1918. 
He lias been an active member of the Grand Lodge of New York since 
1900, was District Deputy Grand Master for the Onondaga-Cortland-Madi- 
son District for three years; Commissioner of Appeals of Grand Lodge in 
1908, and Chief Commissioner the following year. In 1910 he was elected 
Junior Grand Warden and, passing up the line, was elected Most Worship¬ 
ful Grand Master of the State of New York in 1918. While Grand Master 
in 1919, he attended the Peace Jubilee Session of the Grand Lodge of 
England as its guest and responded to the address of welcome for the United 
States in Albert Hall, June 27, 1919. 

He became a member of the George Washington Masonic National 
Memorial Association in 1919, and was one of the incorporators. He is a 
director and a member of the Executive Committee and State Chairman 
for the Grand Lodge of New York. 


74 





THE MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION 


ARTHUR K. LEE 

Arthur Iv. Lee was born at Neligli, Nebraska, September 22, 1882, and 
is a graduate of the high school of that city. In 1902, he obtained a posi¬ 
tion at Cheyenne, Wyoming, as clerk and stenographer and later became 
private secretary to the Governor, Assistant Bank Examiner, and at present 
is a state senator. 

In 1909 he moved to Thermopolis, Wyoming, entering the banking 
business and is at present President of the National Bank of Commerce, 
Casper, Thermopolis State Bank; First National Bank of Basin, and 
Manderson State Bank, Manderson, Wyoming, and is president of other 
corporations. 

He is Past Master of Malta Lodge No. 17, Thermopolis, Wyoming, 
Past Grand High Priest, R. A. M., and Past Eminent Commander, Knights 
Templar; member of the Mystic Shrine; Past Grand Master of Wyoming 
A. F. & A. M.; State Chairman, George Washington Masonic National 
Memorial Association; and elected February 22, 1923, as a director. 

ANDREW L. RANDELL 

Andrew L. Randell was born in Dennison, Texas, August 15, 1880, and 
is the son of Hon. C. B. Randell (still living) and Anna M. Randell. His 
father represented his district in Congress for many years and became 
distinguished among the leading statesmen of that period. The subject 
of this sketch resided in his native state until 1923, when he moved to 
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and only recently to Washington, D. C. He was 
educated in the public schools and in Austin College, Texas, the University 
of Texas, and at Princeton. He received his academic degree from Prince¬ 
ton and studied law at the University of Texas and holds the honorary 
degree of Doctor of Laws. He is still a member of the law firm of Randell 
and Randell of Sherman, Texas. A large part of Andrew Randell’s active 
life has been devoted to public, quasi-public and fraternal affairs. He has 
also been actively interested in education and served as president of the 
board of trustees of Austin College, from which he resigned to take up his 
present work as executive secretary and manager of the Masonic Service 
Association. From early manhood, though not holding office, he has taken 
an active interest in political matters in Texas. He is a member of the 
Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity and belongs to many social, golf, athletic 
and masonic clubs in different parts of the country. He is a member of 
Travis Lodge, 117, A. F. and A. M.; Sherman Chapter, No. 61, R. A. M., 
and Invisible Commandery, No. 13, K. T., all in Sherman, Texas, and to 
Dallas Consistory, No. 2, and to Hella Temple of the Shrine in Dallas. 
He served as Grand Master of Texas from December, 1920, to December, 


75 





THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 


1921. He is an honorary member of several Grand Lodges and other 
Masonic bodies and clubs in various parts of the country, which perhaps 
indicates best of all his wide and favorable acquaintance with the fraternity 
at large. He is chairman of the Masonic Education and Service Committee 
of the Grand Lodge of Texas and a Director of the Masonic Home and 
School in that state. From this brief summary the reader will readily see 
that Andrew Randell’s life has been crowded with worthy activities. A 
veritable human dynamo, he is alive to and in sympathy with every laudable 
enterprise of the fraternity in a progressive sense. When asked what was 
the most important event of his life, he replied with evident pride and 
satisfaction, ‘‘When I married Miss Vera Harrison.” 


HELMLE AND CORBETT, ARCHITECTS 

This well-known New York firm of architects are the designers of the 
Memorial building and in conjunction with Messrs. Osgood and Osgood, of 
Grand Rapids, Michigan, are supervising its construction. The firm consists 
of Air. Frank J. Helmle, born in Alarietta, Ohio, 1867, Air. Harvey AY. 
Corbett, born in San Francisco, California, in 1870, and Air. William 
McMurray, born in the old city of Williamsburg, now a part of greater 
New York, in 1867. Alessrs. Helmle and Corbett enjoy an international 
reputation in their profession. Their work is represented in many of the 
large buildings in New York, such as the Bossert Hotel, Williamsburg Savings 
Bank, Lawyers Title and Trust Company, the Bush Building and also the 
Bush Building in London, Alaryland Institute in Baltimore, Municipal 
Group in Springfield, Alassachusetts, the Brooklyn Masonic Temple, and 
a number of other public and private buildings throughout this coun¬ 
try. Air. Corbett, after graduating in an American school of architecture, 
took a post-graduate course in the Academy of Fine Arts in Paris, after 
which he made an exhaustive study of the ancient buildings of Italy, Greece 
and Egypt. He has been awarded medals by several foreign institutes and 
is, perhaps, the most profound student of the science of his profession in 
this country. Air. McMurray, as representative of the firm in the construc¬ 
tion of the temple, stands among the foremost experts in his line, and Air. 
Edward Brown, resident inspector, representing the architects in the build¬ 
ing, has also had a long and varied experience in the construction of large 
buildings, for which reason he was selected for this work. We may say 
here, as a matter of information, that the Memorial is modeled after the 
famous beacon towers which stood at the entrance of harbors to guide the 
ancient mariners. 


76 





THE MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION 



SIDNEY J. OSGOOD EUGENE OSGOOD 


CONSULTING ARCHITECTS 

Osgood and Osgood, Masonic Temple Specialists, of Grand Rapids, 
Michigan, are the Consulting Architects, representing the Board of Direc¬ 
tors in the construction of the Memorial. This firm has been in continuous 
professional practice for over forty-five years and has designed many 
notable Masonic temples in this country and in Canada. 

Mr. Sidney J. Osgood, senior member, has been a life-long Masonic 
patron and is a life member of the American Institute of Architects. 

Mr. Eugene Osgood is a thirty-third degree Mason and a Masonic 
executive, having served his lodge as Master and his consistory as Com¬ 
mander. He received his architectural training at Cornell University. 

Osgood and Osgood are at present also the architects for these other 
important Masonic structures; namely, temples in Canton, Ohio, South 
Bend, Indiana, and Grand Rapids, Michigan. This firm is considered 
among the leading specialists on designing and construction of Masonic 
buildings in America. 


77 





THE t MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 



PERCY CRANFORD 


THE CONTRACTORS 

The Memorial is being erected by the Cranford Company of Washing¬ 
ton, D. C. This organization was established soon after the close of the 
War between the States by Major H. L. Cranford, a veteran of the Union 
Army. Upon the death of the senior member, his sons, Messrs. Joseph and 
Percy Cranford, who had been associated with him in the business during 
the latter years of his life, succeeded to the business and now constitute the 
company. Major Cranford was a pioneer in the asphalt paving industry 
and fully 75 per cent of this class of street work in Washington, D. C., 
has been done by the Cranfords. In addition to this they have en¬ 
gaged extensively in building construction work throughout the eastern 
part of the United States. During the late war they were engaged largely 
in constructing highways, docks, railroads, water systems and rifle ranges 
in the District of Columbia and at Camp A. A. Humphries and Camp 
Eustis, Virginia. Major Cranford was, in addition to being a member of 
the Blue Lodge, a member of the Chapter, Commandery, Consistory and 
Shrine, as are his sons. The Cranfords have what might be termed a 
Masonic organization, as the following will show: Carroll A. Warthen, 
Superintendent and Engineer in Charge; Frederick S. Biggs, Master Me¬ 
chanic and Assistant Superintendent; Frederick F. Schondau, Clerk of the 
works; E. B. Spencer, Foreman of Carpenters; Geo. W. Zachary, Field 
Engineer; and a large number of the employees are Masons, as are most of 
the office force in Washington. 


78 





THE MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION 


LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS 

Mr. Frederick Law 01mslead, the Senior Member of Olmstead Brothers, 
is the son and pupil of Frederick Law Olmstead, Senior (who was the de¬ 
signer of Central Park, New York, and for forty years the leading expert 
of North America in the designing of parks). Mr. Olmstead was Professor 
of Landscape Architecture, Harvard University, 1903-1914; Fellow and 
repeatedly President of the American Society of Landscape Architects; 
Member and Past President of the American City Planning Institute; 
Corresponding Member of the American Institute of Architects and of the 
British Town Planning Institute; Member of the “Park Commission of 
1901,” which prepared plans in extension and elaboration of the original 
plans made by Major L’Enfant, in 1790, for the parks and the central 
groups of public buildings of the City of Washington; twice Member of the 
National Commission of Fine Arts of the United States; Director in charge 
of the Town Planning Division of the United States Housing Corporation 
during the World War; Member of the Council of the American Academy 
in Rome; Member of the Board of Professional Advisers on City Planning 
for the Regional Plan of the New York Metropolitan District (embracing 
a population of over 9,000,000 people). 

Some of the notable work designed by Olmstead Brothers includes the 
Metropolitan Park System of Boston; Riverside Drive, New York City; 
Jackson Park and the Lake Front developments in Chicago; Audubon 
Park, New Orleans, Louisiana. 

Mr. Carl Rust Parker, who is associated with Olmstead Brothers on this 
work, received his education in Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts, 
and in 1901 entered the office of Olmstead Brothers, where he remained 
until 1910, when he entered independent practice with an office in Portland, 
Maine, and later a second office in Springfield, Massachusetts. He has 
been a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects since 
1912, and a Trustee and Treasurer of that organization since 1920. He 
is also Business Manager of Landscape Architecture, the official publica¬ 
tion of the American Society of Landscape Architecture and the only 
technical magazine devoted solely to the landscape profession. Mr. 
Parker was made a Mason in Yarmouth, Maine, being a member of Casco 
Lodge and Cumberland Chapter in that town. 

William S. Manning, representing the landscape architects and in 
personal charge of the field work such as the development of the terraces, 
etc., is an expert in his line. His father was a nurseryman in Massachu¬ 
setts, where he was born in 1802, and Mr. Manning, who is now a resident of 
Baltimore, Maryland, literally grew up with shrubs and plants which, in his 
gentle nature, he treats with paternal sympathy and affection. He has had a 
wide and valuable experience in landscape decoration and has given to this 
enterprise the best of which a conscientious and efficient aitist is capable. 


79 






THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 



80 







THE MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION 


GRAND MASTER JAMES H. PRICE 

Most Worshipful James H. Price, Virginia’s Grand Master, was born 
in West Virginia, though he lias spent the greater part of his life in the 
Jurisdiction over whose Masonic destinies he now presides. Having 
graduated in law from Washington and Lee University at Lexington, Vir¬ 
ginia, as president of his class in 1909, he was admitted to the bar the same 
year and is now and has been for a number of years practicing his pro¬ 
fession in Richmond, Virginia, where he resides. 

Most Worshipful Brother Price has always taken a keen interest in 
public affairs, and is about to begin his fifth term as a representative of the 
city of Richmond in the General Assembly of Virginia; he holds the chair¬ 
manship of some of the most important committees in the Legislature, 
being also Chairman of the State Auditing Committee. Some of the most 
important legislation of the last decade may be directly traced to his efforts. 

For several years he held a commission in the State Militia as Captain, 
and during his residence in Staunton was Adjutant of the First Virginia 
Regiment. 

He is a Past Master of Staunton Lodge No. 13, A. F. &: A. M.; Past 
High Priest of Union Royal Arch Chapter No. 2, and a Past Eminent 
Commander of Stevenson Commandery No. 8 of Staunton, \ irginia; a 
member and former officer of the Scottish Rite Bodies of Richmond, Vir¬ 
ginia, and the Recorder and Imperial Representative of Acca Temple, 
A. A. O. N. M. S., of Richmond. He has served the Grand Lodge of Vir¬ 
ginia, A. F. & A. M., as a member of both the Committee on Work and the 
Jurisprudence Committee, and was elected Grand Junior Deacon in 1917, 
and at this time is serving his second term as Grand Master of Masons in 
Virginia. He was Grand High Priest of the Grand Royal Arch Chapter of 
Virginia in 1919, and at the present time is Grand Treasurer of both the. 
Grand Royal Arch Chapter and the Grand Commandery of Virginia, K. T. 
He is an honorary member of a number of lodges, among which are Alex- 
andria-Washington and Andrew Jackson, of Alexandria. 

As Grand Master of Virginia, Brother Price will be in charge of the 
ceremonies of laying the corner-stone of the Memorial Temple on Novem¬ 
ber 1, but in keeping with his generous and unselfish nature and because 
of the long and intimate connection of his Deputy Grand Master, Charles 
H. Callahan, with the Memorial movement, he has appointed Brother 
Callahan to perform the actual ceremony. 


81 





THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 



WILLIAM B. McCHESNEY 


WILLIAM B. McCHESNEY 

William B. McChesney was born in Augusta County/Virginia, in 1849 
When but fourteen years of age he enlisted in the Confederate army and 
served until the close of the war. After the fall of the Confederacy, he 
entered what is now known as Washington and Lee University at Lexington. 
Virginia, of which General Lee was then president, and upon the death of 
General Lee he served as one of the student guard of honor over the body 
of the renowned Chieftain. He graduated in law but did not practice. 

Brother McChesney became a Mason in Rockingham Union Lodge 
No. 27, at Harrisonburg, Virginia, and later became a member of Staunton 
Lodge No. 13, at Staunton, Virginia. He is a Past Master of Staunton 
Lodge and was for many years its Secretary. He is Past High Priest of 
Union Royal Arch Chapter No. 2, of Staunton, and was its Secretary for 
many years; he is also Past Eminent Commander, Stevenson Command- 
ery No. 8, K. T., and was at one time its Recorder. He was Grand Master 
of Masons in Virginia, 1910-11 and 1911-12; Grand High Priest, Grand 
Royal Arch Chapter of Virginia, 1908-09; Grand Eminent Commander, 
Grand Commandery of Virginia, 1910-11; and has been President for many 
years of the Valley Royal Arch School of Instruction. He is also a member 
of Acca I emple, A. A. O. N. M. S. As Grand Master of Virginia he presided 
at the first two meetings of the George Washington Masonic National 
Memorial Association, and has attended every meeting since. He enjoys 
more distinction and merited honors than any living Mason in Virginia. 


82 






CHAPTER FIVE 

THE TEMPLE AND ITS ENVIRONMENTS 


HE SITE of the memorial is in the western suburbs of 
Alexandria and consists in its entirety of about 35 acres of 
land, title to which, with the buildings thereon, is vested 
in The George Washington Masonic National Memorial 
Association, Inc. This valuable property has been ac¬ 
quired at a total cost of fifty-five thousand dollars, most of 
it having been purchased from the city at a nominal consideration. A 
conservative estimate places the market value of the Association’s land at 
$350,000. 

The temple building faces the east and is approached by seven ter¬ 
races. The main building is 177 feet 8 inches wide by 195 feet 8 inches long, 
with a semicircular projection in the rear on a radius of 50 feet, making 
the length over all of 245 feet 8 inches. The extreme width of the top terrace 
around the building is 230 feet wide by 300 feet in length and 128 feet above 
tide-water. The approximate height of the building is 235 feet above the 
top terrace level, or 3G3 feet above tide-water. This makes the completed 
structure higher than the dome of the United States Capitol. The structure 
rests on a solid mat, which covers the entire area and contains approxi¬ 
mately 9,000 cubic yards of concrete and 720 tons of reinforcing steel. 
The total amount of concrete in the foundation, walls and approaches is 
16,000 cubic yards. The building above the foundation walls is to be 
constructed of New Hampshire Conway pink granite, and the entire cost, 
including landscape decorations, will be, approximately, $4,000,000.00, 
which is to be raised by popular subscription among the individual Masons 
and Masonic bodies of America. The building will contain, when com¬ 
pleted, in addition to Memorial Hall, an auditorium with a seating capacity 
of one thousand to twelve hundred, executive offices, and a replica of 
old Alexandria-Washington Lodge, which was erected immediately after 
Washington’s death by his contemporaries and in which will be deposited 
the interesting and invaluable collection of relics and personal effects of 
General Washington owned by that Lodge. In addition to this there Mill 
be an assembly hall, a library, museum and art gallery. 



83 
















THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 


The property secured by the Association is a part of a larger tract 
once owned by General Washington and is the identical spot selected by 
Jefferson and Madison and favored by John Adams as the site of the national 
capitol. For personal reasons Washington opposed the selection. From 
the elevation upon which the Memorial will stand the observer looks out 
upon a scene of exquisite beauty. In the northeast, spread out like a 
gorgeous panorama, is the City of Washington with its stately public 
buildings, gilded domes and towering spires stretching away over the hills 
and valleys of the District of Columbia and beyond into Maryland. On the 
undulating plain between the national capital and the corporate limits of 
Alexandria are numerous suburban towns of the modern type to embellish 
this angle of the view. From the foot of the hill upon which the Memorial 
is being erected down to the river’s edge a mile away is old Alexandria, 
still quaint and provincial, creating a distinct contrast to the contiguous 
suburban districts. Beyond and to the east, forming a natural background, 
rise the imposing bluffs of Maryland, and through the intervening valley, 
from Washington City on the northeast to its bend at Fort Washington 
on the south, a distance of over ten miles, loiters the historic Potomac 
around which gather romantic traditions and legends of three centuries. 

On the south, the slopes of Temple Hill forming its northern limit, 
and extending far back into the thickly wooded country to the rear of the 
Memorial building, is Cameron Valley, named for Thomas the 6th Lord 
Fairfax, Baron of Cameron in Scotland. This wide ravine opens a charm¬ 
ing inland vista in a westerly direction toward Bull Run battlefield some 
thirty miles away (see Cameron Valley). To the west of the Memorial, 
its tower rising above the surrounding trees and only a mile and a half 
distant, is the Episcopal Theological Seminary, the oldest institution of its 
kind in America. It is the Alma Mater of Bishop Potter, Phillips Brooks, 
Bishop Randolph, Randolph McKim, and an army of other faithful servants 
of the Master who have carried the message and preached the doctrine of 
the Episcopal Church in every quarter of the globe. 

This is the local, the immediate environment—the part that comes 
within the range of the naked eye; but the story would be incomplete if we 
failed to refer, in a limited way at least, to other places of interest which 
girdle the temple a little beyond the range of unaided vision. This was 
Washington’s legal habitat, and all around about are located the homes of 
his neighbors and other revered landmarks of colonial days with which he 
was closely associated. Some of these still stand and give an added charm 
to the community. Within some of these old walls throbbed the first pulse 
of the American Revolution and under their roofs lived and died great 
apostles of liberty. Abingdon, Arlington, Mount Eagle, Mount Vernon, 
Wood lawn, Belvoir, Pohick Church, Gunston Hall, are all within this 
circle, but let us deal with them separately and in order following the route 
of the tourist. 


84 





THE TEMPLE AND ITS ENVIRONMENTS 



ABINGDON, VIRGINIA 



ABINGDON 

IYE MILES NORTHEAST of the Memorial Temple and directly 
in the line of vision with Washington City is Abingdon, home of 
John Custis. Mrs. Martha Washington had four children by 
i! _ 5Es=es!==i=j her first husband, Colonel Daniel Park Custis. Two of her 
children died in early childhood; the other two, John, aged six, and Martha, 
named for her mother, aged three, were living at the time of her second 
marriage to Colonel George Washington on June 6, 1759. After a short 
sojourn at the “White House,” Mrs. Custis’ home on the Pautnunkey 
River in New Kent County, Virginia, Colonel Washington conducted his 
bride and her children to Mount Vernon and there, amid the pleasant 
surroundings of that beautiful seat, these children grew to manhood and 
womanhood under the watchful care of their mother and foster father. 

Washington, having no children of his own, bestowed his affections 
upon those of his wife. The girl, always delicate and of a paiticulaib 
affectionate nature, was the special object of his care and solicitude. She 


85 

















THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 


became, when weather permitted, his constant companion on his daily 
rides around the farm. Just as Nellie Custis did in the years after the 
Revolution, “Washington loved children,” and the presence of John and 
Martha Custis at Mount Vernon gave a zest and warmth to the household 
which youth alone can supply. The utopian period of Washington’s life 
was from the date of his marriage in 1759 to the beginning of the Revolution. 
These were years of peace and domestic felicity, marred only by the sudden 
death of Martha Custis on June 19, 1773. Just developing into beautiful 
womanhood though frail and delicate, her attractive personality and un¬ 
selfish nature made her a decided favorite amongst her associates and the 
idol of her parents. 

Washington’s grief at the death of his stepdaughter, if we can believe 
contemporary reports, was beyond control, even more apparent than that 
of her own mother. Indeed it was a long time before either of them could 
find relief from this sad bereavement, which was as unexpected as it was 
afflicting. Mrs. Washington’s first husband, Colonel Custis, had left his 
young widow and their two children “45,000 pounds sterling in money and 
large land interest,” one-third to his wife and the rest to his children, and 
this legacy had been greatly increased by the judicious investments of 
Washington, who had become their guardian immediately upon his marriage 
to their mother. John Custis, the only surviving child of Daniel and 
Martha Custis, upon the death of his sister, inherited her legacy, and this 
added to his own patrimony, placed the young man in independent cir¬ 
cumstances before he reached his majority, and Colonel Washington and his 
wife had high hopes that the youth, who was away at school, would equip 
himself for “one of the learned professions.” 

But young Custis had a will of his own which not even Washington 
could control. He had become deeply enamored of Miss Eleanor Calvert, 
daughter of Benedict Calvert of Mount Airy, Maryland, a lineal descendant 
of Lord Baltimore. The only objection on the part of their parents to an 
early marriage was the extreme youth of the couple. This objection was, 
however, finally removed or, rather, withdrawn, and the wedding took 
place at the home of the bride’s parents on February 23, 1774, with Colonel 
Washington present, but Mrs. Washington, being in mourning for her 
daughter, did not attend, sending the following letter to the bride as an 
evidence of her esteem. 

My Dear Nelly: God took from Me a daughter, when June Roses were 
blooming. He has now given me another daughter, about her Age when Winter 
winds are blowing, to warm my Heart again. I am as Happy as one so afflicted 
and so Blest can be. Pray receive my Benediction and a wish that you may long 
live the Loving wife of my happy son, and a Loving daughter of, 

Your affectionate Mother, 

M. Washington. 


86 





THE TEMPLE AND ITS ENVIRONMENTS 


For two years after their marriage young John Custis and his bride 
made their home at Mount Vernon, after which they established a seat at 
Abingdon, a beautiful location on the south side of the Potomac nearly 
opposite the present city of Washington. General Washington had pur¬ 
chased the place for his ward from Gerard Alexander, one of the founders 
of Alexandria City. The married life of John and Eleanor Custis was all 
that their most exacting relatives and friends could desire. The house 
was not very large or imposing, but the location was beautiful, the building 
stood on an elevation of perhaps a hundred feet above mean tide, and from 
it at a distance of about half a mile long reaches of the Potomac River came 
in view. It was convenient for the Washingtons to reach either by land 
or water, and the General’s diary shows that he frequently visited the place 
even after the death of young Custis. John Custis manifested a decided 
fondness and considerable talent for public affairs and, in the last years 
of the War for Independence, was elected to the General Assembly in which 
he was serving in 1781. During the siege of Yorktown he acted as special 
aide to Washington and, while performing this duty, contracted a malignant 
case of camp fever. He was removed from the battlefield to Eltham, the 
home of his aunt, Mrs. Burwell Bassett, in New Kent County, not far from 
Yorktown. 

Immediately after the surrender of Cornwallis Washington hurried to 
the bedside of his wife’s son, arriving at Eltham on the 5th of November 
just in time to witness his demise and to comfort the mother and wife of the 
young man who had arrived several days before. John Custis left four 
children, all born during the dark days of the Revolution. Elizabeth, 
born August 22, 1770, married Mr. Thomas Law, whose residence was 
located in Washington, D. C., and on the site of the present War College; 
Martha, born December 31, 1777, married Mr. Thomas Peter and lived 
at Tudor Place, Georgetown, D. C.; Eleanor (Nellie) was born March 21, 
1779, and married Mr. Lawrence Lewis (see Woodlawn); George Washing¬ 
ton, born at Mount Airy, home of his mother’s parents, on April 30, 1781 
(see Arlington). The first three of these children were born at Abingdon. 
Immediately after the death of the father General Washington adopted 
his two youngest children, Eleanor, aged two years, and George Washing¬ 
ton, aged six months. 

These children were taken to Mount Vernon and in the absence of Mrs. 
Washington were placed under the care of Mrs. Lund Washington, the 
General’s faithful manager and relative. Mrs. Eleanor Custis, their 
mother, married a second husband, Dr. David Stewart, a warm personal 
friend of Washington whom he afterwards appointed one of the first com¬ 
missioners of the District of Columbia, and it was this David Stewart who, 
with Daniel Carroll, established the boundary line and fixed the original 
metes and bounds of the District of C olumbia in 1 /91—92. 


87 






THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 


General Washington as guardian for John Custis had purchased Abing¬ 
don from Gerard Alexander for his stepson and ward during the Revolution 
and paid for it in Continental money. After the close of the War for Inde¬ 
pendence the heirs of Alexander brought suit to set aside the sale, and after 
years of tedious litigation the court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs. Under 
the riding Abingdon went back to the Alexanders. It was again sold to a 
Mr. Wise, who transferred it to General Alexander Hunter, a descendant 
of the Alexanders, who willed it to his brother, Major Bushrod Washington 
Hunter, as trustee for Alexander Hunter, son of Bushrod. Both Alexander 
Hunter and his father served in the Confederate army, in view of which 
Abingdon was confiscated by the Federal Government but recovered for 
young Hunter through the efforts of Hon. James A. Garfield and Judge 
Black. It again passed out of the Hunter family soon after it was recovered 
from the Government, and this sale separated it from the Alexanders per¬ 
haps for all time. 

Although the old house is still standing, it does not present a very 
attractive appearance. Its broad gravel walks bordered by box bushes, its 
beautiful terraced lawn and shaded lane leading down to the river, can still 
be traced, but the sentiment, the romance and culture which made Abingdon 
famous in the days of the Custises and Hunters are gone, perhaps never to 
return. 


88 





THE TEMPLE AND ITS ENVIRONMENTS 



ARLINGTON MANSION 


ARLINGTON 



N THE 2oth day of December, 1778, John Parke Custis, son of 
Mrs. Martha Washington, purchased from Gerard Alexander, 
eleven hundred acres of land for the sum of eleven hundred 
, pounds Virginia currency. This property, situated near the 

head of tide-water on the Potomac River directly opposite the present city 
of Washington, adjoined Mr. Custis' home farm, “Abingdon,” on the west. 

The western part of this property consists of a high ridge or tableland 
through which the river, congested by encroaching bluffs, passes out into 
the low plain about one mile north of the present mansion. Released 
from the confining hills, this noble tributary of the Chesapeake sweeps 
through the plain below Arlington in an easterly course, then at a distance 
of two miles it bends to the south and passes on by Abingdon in its outward 
flow, creating a diversified natural scene of wonderful beauty which has 


89 








THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 


been embellished and enriched by the genius of man in the system of parks 
which border the opposite shore and from which the classic memorial to 
Lincoln rises in stately grandeur. Serene, beautiful and historic picture 
it is indeed which meets the eyes of all who look down from the command¬ 
ing heights of Arlington. 

In the division of John Custis’ estate the eleven hundred acres of land 
purchased from Alexander fell to his son, George Washington Parke Custis, 
the younger of the two children adopted by General Washington. After 
the death of his grandmother, Mrs. Washington, young Custis divided his 
time between the home of his sister Nellie and in keeping bachelor’s hall in 
a small house on his estate, until his marriage in 1804 to Miss Mary Lee 
Fitzliugh, daughter of William Fitzhugh of Chatham, a fine old estate in 
Stafford County, opposite Fredericksburg, Virginia (still standing). 

About two years before his marriage and probably in contemplation 
of that event, selecting the most conspicuous point on the brow of the high 
ground referred to as a suitable location, Mr. Custis began the erection of 
his palatial residence, which he christened “Arlington House,” and which 
has since become the world famous abode of the renowned southern chief¬ 
tain, Robert E. Lee, and the sacred Valhalla of America. 

The life of George Washington Parke Custis, founder of Arlington, 
the adopted son of George Washington and the grandson of Martha, his 
wife, was replete with thrilling interest. Reared under the roof of Mount 
Vernon mansion, he enjoyed not only the salutary advice of his distinguished 
foster-father, but in addition thereto the superior advantage of the cultured 
society and companionship of the most distinguished men and women of 
the country. Educated in the best schools of his day and along the most 
practical lines, he developed in early life a talent for literature and in later 
years became noted as an orator of considerable force. 

His “Recollections of Washington,” written at different periods of his 
life and published in numerous magazines at the time, was subsequently 
compiled under the supervision of his daughter, Mrs. Robert E. Lee. 
While somewhat ornate, this work is intensely interesting and instructive, 
as it carries the reader into the inner circle of the sanctum at Mount Vernon 
and vividly portrays the domestic life in the home of Washington. 

On January 10, 1799, young Custis, though only nineteen years of age, 
was appointed by President Adams cornet in the United States Army and 
afterwards, when the country was threatened with a war with France, 
was promoted to the position of aide-de-camp to General Cotesworthy 
Pinkney of South Carolina with the rank of Colonel. Owing to the early 
settlement of the French difficulty, young Custis was never called into 
active service but continued the peaceful life of a planter, occasional^ 

contributing to contemporary periodicals his much sought recollections 
and reviews. 

90 


\ 





t:h e temple and its environments 


Mr. Custis died on the 10th of October, 1857, after an illness of only 
four days, and on the 12th, with military honors, his remains were laid by 
the side of his wife (who had died in 1853) in the quiet groves near the 
classic home he had reared in early manhood and in which he had spent 
over half a century in his favorite rural occupations, diversified by an 
occasional literary production. 

By his will bearing date March 20, 1855, he devised the Arlington 
House estate to his daughter and only surviving child, Mary Ann Randolph 
Lee, during her natural life, and on her death to his eldest grandson, George 
Washington Custis Lee, to him and his heirs forever, with the plate and 
paintings therein. 

Robert E. Lee, the famous son of the famous Light Horse Harry of 
revolutionary fame, and the grandson of the traditional “lowland beauty,” 
Lucy Grimes, was married to Mary Ann Randolph Custis, June 30, 1831, 
at Arlington House. The ceremony was performed by the Reverend Reuel 
Keith, a professor in the Episcopal Theological Seminary near Alexandria, 
Virginia, and once pastor of Christ Church in that city, in which sacred 
edifice Colonel Lee was confirmed in 1853 by the venerable Bishop Meade. 
The place of his confirmation stood only a few blocks from the old school- 
house where, in early youth, he had been prepared for West Point by the 
worthy old Quaker pedagogue, Benjamin Halowell. 

It was fitting that the name of Custis should merge into that of the 
family so closely associated and connected with the name of Washington, 
and especially gratifying that the great granddaughter of Martha Washing¬ 
ton should be joined in wedlock to the noblest scion of this knightly race. 

The beginning of the Civil War in 1801 brought serious trouble upon 
this happy home. General Lee was then a colonel in the United States 
army with a record of thirty-two years of honorable service, and it was at 
Arlington that the momentous question of following the Union he loved 
or the state of his nativity confronted him. It was there also that he made 
his final decision and there on the twentieth of April, 1861, he wrote that 
now memorable letter to his old commander. General Scott, as follows: 

Arlington, Va., April 20th, 1801. 

Lieut.-General Winfield Scott, 

Commanding United States Army. 

General: Since my interview with you on the 18 th inst., I have felt that 
1 ought not longer retain my commission in the Army. I therefore tender my 
resignation, which I request you will recommend for acceptance. It would have 
been presented at once but for the struggle it has cost me to separate myself from 
a service to which I have devoted all the best years of my life and all the ability I 

During the whole of that time, more than a quarter ot a century, I have 
experienced nothing but kindness from my superiors, and the most cordial friend- 


91 





THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 


ship from my comrades. To no one, General, have I been as much indebted as 
to yourself for uniform kindness and consideration; and it has always been my 
ardent desire to merit your approbation. I shall carry to the grave the most 
grateful recollections of your kind consideration, and your name and fame will 
always be dear to me. 

Save in defense of my native state, I never desire again to draw my sword. 
Be pleased to accept my most earnest wishes for the continuance of your happiness 
and prosperitv, and believe me, most truly vours, 

R. E. Lee. 

A few days after writing this letter Colonel Lee with his family left 
Arlington House, never to return as proprietor, if ever in any capacity. 

On the 7th of June, 1862, the United States Congress passed an act for 
the collection of direct taxes in insurrectionary districts within the United 
States, and for other purposes, and under this act only the owner in person 
could redeem the property upon which such tax was imposed. The amount 
levied on the Arlington estate was ninety-two dollars and seven cents. 
The nature of the law prevented the redemption of the property under the 
circumstances, and consequently Arlington, on the 11th day of January, 
1864, was offered for sale by the Government at public auction in the city 
of Alexandria and bid in by the Government's commissioners for the sum 
of twenty-six thousand eight hundred dollars. No portion of the purchase 
money was ever paid, as it would have been an empty form for the Govern¬ 
ment to have converted the amount into its own treasury. 

On January 22, 1872, Mrs. Mary A. R. Lee began proceedings to re¬ 
cover Arlington estate by a petition to the United States Senate. Mrs. 
Lee died November, 1873, and her son. General George Washington Custis 
Lee, under the will of his grandfather, became the sole heir to the property 
and continued to press the claim, which was subsequently referred to the 
Court of Claims for adjudication and, after long continued litigation, in 
October, 1882, the case was finally decided in the Supreme Court of the 
United States in favor of General Lee, who subsequently received an award 
of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars in full of all demands. Thus 
terminated the interest and association of the Lees with the Arlington 
estate. 

Arlington has become one of the sacred shrines of America. For half 
a century the home of the grandson of Martha Washington, it is directly 
associated and connected with Mount Vernon and the memories that cling 
to that revered spot, while the name and fame of Robert E. Lee, a legacy to 
the southland and an honor to the human race, will gather around it and 
glorify it to the latest posterity. Under its spreading oaks rest, side by 
side, those who wore the blue and those who wore the grey in that awful 
period of “blood and iron," symbolizing peace and an united country. 


92 





THE TEMPLE AND ITS ENVIRONMENTS 



CHRIST CHURCH, ALEXANDRIA, VA. 


CHRIST CHURCH 

EFORE THE REVOLUTION General Washington usually 
attended Pohick Church in Fairfax County, about seven miles 
below Mount Vernon, but upon the completion of Christ Church 
in Alexandria in 1773, he purchased a pew in that house of wor¬ 
ship, for which he paid the sum of 36 pounds and 10 shillings, and after that 
time, when at home, was a regular attendant at this church. In it, in 1853, 
Robert E. Lee, the great Southern leader, was confirmed in the Episcopal 
faith by the renowned Rev. William Meade, afterwards Bishop of the 
Diocese of Virginia. The interior of the church has been changed several 
times, but the pew of Washington has been restored to its original design, 
and the pews of both Washington and Lee are marked. The present gallery 
was erected in 1787, and the steeple was added in 1818. Some of the most 
eminent divines in Virginia have served as rectors of this parish, among 
them Bryan, the Eighth Lord Fairfax, David Griffith, William Meade, and 



03 













THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 


Randolph McKim, and on the vestry register we find, in addition to General 
Washington, the names of Lord Bryan Fairfax, Ludwell Lee, Edmund I. 
Lee, Captain William Payne, Colonel Charles Simms, Cassius F. Lee, 
Colonel John A. Washington and General John Mason. The old edifice is 
redolent with the spirit of sacred history and tradition, and is beautifully 
situated in the heart of the city. 


94 





THE TEMPLE AND ITS ENVIRONMENTS 



GADSBY'S TAVERN OR CITY HOTEL. ALEXANDRIA. VA. 


GADSBY'S TAVERN OR THE CITY HOTEL 



EW, IE’ ANY, public buildings in the country have been the 
scene of more important historic events than this old hostelry. 
The smaller of the two buildings shown in the illustration was 
l===5= _ 2 __ =u erected about 1750 and was at first known as the City Tavern. 
It was occupied by Washington as headquarters while recruiting and drilling 
his rangers for the Great Meadows campaign in 1 / 54. It was again occupied 
by him when equipping and recruiting the Virginia contingent for Braddock’s 
campaign in 1755. In this house, on June 28, 1<88, was held the first 
celebration of the adoption of the Federal Constitution with Washington 
present and participating. Upon his return to Mount Vernon he wrote the 
same day to Charles Cotesworthy Pinkney: “Thus the citizens of Alexandria 
when convened constituted the first public company in America which had 
the pleasure of pouring a libation to the prosperity of the ten states that 
had actually adopted the general government. I have just returned from 
assisting at the entertainment. hrom the steps oi the smaller building 


95 


















THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 


in 1789, he delivered a farewell address to his neighbors when starting for 
New York to be installed as first President. The larger building was 
erected about 1792. 

Gadsbv and Davis came into possession in 1795 after which, for a 
number of years, both buildings were called Gadsby’s Inn. In the large 
building the first public celebration of Washington’s birthday was held in 
1798 with Washington and his family present, and on February 11, 1799, 
he recorded: “Went up to Alexandria to the celebration of my birthday. 
Many maneuvers were performed by the uniformed corps and an elegant 
ball and supper at night.” From the steps of this old hostelry Washington 
held his last military review and gave his last military order. This order 
was transmitted to Captain Henry Piercy, commanding the Alexandria 
Independent Blues, by George Washington Park Custis. Davis, the 
English traveler, said of Gadsby’s in 1804, that it was the best hostelry in 
America. Not only has it been the scene of history-making events but in 
it have been entertained heroes of two continents: Lafayette and Paul 
Jones met for the first time here, and Madison, Jefferson, Mason and other 
world famous men were regular visitors. Here Lafayette was entertained 
by the commonalty in 1824, and here the Washington birtlmight balls Mere 
held for half a century and the ballroom and music gallery are still intact. 


96 





THE TEMPLE AND ITS ENVIRONMENTS 



CARLYLE HOUSE, ALEXANDRIA, VA. 


THE CARLYLE HOUSE 

ENERAL EDWARD BRADDOCK landed at Hampton, Vir- 
gjjygM| ginia, February 20, 1755, to begin the French and Indian War. 

Repairing to Alexandria, the place of rendezvous, he established 
headquarters in the residence of John Carlyle. In this house, 
on the 14th day of April following, was held the now historic conference 
of civilians representing five colonies and consisting of Governor Shirley 
of Massachusetts, Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia, and Lieutenant Gover¬ 
nors DeLancy of New York, Sharp of Maryland, and Morris of Pennsyl¬ 
vania, General Edward Braddock and Colonel Washington. At this 
meeting a plan of campaign was agreed upon, and Washington’s appoint¬ 
ment as Major on Braddock s staff w^as officially announced. 

John Carlyle, in whose house this Council of War was held, was of 
Scotch descent; born February 6, 1720; emigrated to Virginia, 1740; married 
Sarah, daughter of William Fairfax of Belvoir; in 1752 he erected the now 
famous Carlyle House in Alexandria, on the foundations of an old fort; on 
January 26, 1755, Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia appointed Air. Carlyle 



97 









THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 


Major and Commissary of the Virginia forces in the Braddoek campaign. 
In 1758 he succeeded his father-in-law. Honorable William Fairfax, as 
collector of His Majesty’s customs on the South Potomac; in the Revolu¬ 
tion he espoused the cause of the colonies and was a zealous patriot. His 
only son, George William, was killed in the battle of Eutaw Springs, South 
Carolina, September 18, 1781, fighting under “Light Horse” Harry Lee, 
at the age of only seventeen. It was in this house that the seed of colonial 
taxation by the English Parliament was planted. During their conference 
with General Braddoek, the five governors referred to above gave it as 
their unanimous opinion “that a common fund proposed for the prosecution 
of the French War can never be established in the colonies without the aid 
of Parliament.” They likewise declared that “having found it impracti¬ 
cable to obtain in their respective governments their proportions expected 
by His Majesty towards defraying the expense of his services in North 
America, we are unanimously of opinion that it should be proposed to His 
Majesty’s Ministers to find out some method of compelling them to do it, 
and of assessing the several governments in proportion to their respective 
abilities, their shares of the whole money already furnished and what it 
shall be thought proper for them further to furnish towards the general 
expense of his service.” 

After the adjournment of the council, General Braddoek wrote from 
the Carlyle House, on April 19, 1755, to Sir Thomas Robinson, one of His 
Majesty’s secretaries of state, as follows: “ . . . .you will be sufficiently 
informed, sir, by the minutes of the Council which I send you, of the im¬ 
possibility of obtaining from the several colonies the establishment of a 
general fund agreeable to His Majesty’s instructions. ... I cannot but 
take the liberty to repeat to you the necessity of laying a tax upon all His 
Majesty’s dominions in America, agreeably to the result of Council, for 
reimbursing the great sums that must be advanced for the service and 
interest of the colonies in this important crisis.” 

This was the first suggestion by British officials in council for taxing 
the American colonies, a project which ended in their independence. 

To recount the full story of all the historic places in Alexandria would 
require much more space than can be allotted in this work. The old ceme¬ 
teries which contain the remains of men and women who played an im¬ 
portant part in the stirring periods of the past, the homes where these bold 
patriots lived, the historic public buildings in which meetings of mighty 
consequence were held and whose halls resounded with clarion appeals for 
independence in the dark days before the Revolution, are scattered around 
on nearly every square. The short legends on tablets which mark the spots 
must serve, for the present at least, to satisfy the curious wanderer, and 
our narrative must again lead away to the environment of the city which is 
equally interesting and important. 


98 





THE TEMPLE AND ITS ENVIRONMENTS 


CAMERON VALLEY 



WO HIGHWAYS lead out of Alexandria which trend to the 
south. The oldest and most historic of these thoroughfares 
known in Colonial days as the King’s Highway takes a west¬ 
ward course from the city and enters Cameron Valley at the 
site of the Memorial Temple or Shooter's Hill. Here lived, shortly after 
the Revolution, on the land now owned by the Memorial Association, 
Ludwell, the second son of Richard Henry Lee, signer of the Declaration of 
Independence. Ludwell Lee was an aide-de-camp to Lafayette in the War 
for American Independence and, as such, became the intimate friend of that 
noble Frenchman. He was a lawyer by profession and a distinguished 
member of the Virginia Legislature when that body ranked in dignity and 
intellectual worth with the Congress of the United States. He presided 
over the State Senate for a term and was recognized as a man of exceptional 
promise. Being possessed of an ample fortune but preferring the ease of a 
private station to the hurly-burly and exactions of public life, he volun¬ 
tarily retired from both the practice of law and the State Senate and as¬ 
sumed to him the more congenial occupation of a planter. 

Mr. Lee’s first wife, who was the daughter of Philip Ludwell Lee of 
famed Stratford House, died during his residence on Shooter’s Hill and is 
buried in the family plot just north of the Memorial. In this family burial 
place also rest the remains of Annie, wife of Charles Lee, daughter of 
Richard Henry Lee and sister of Ludwell Lee, who died at her home in 
Alexandria, September 9, 1804. Charles Lee, the husband of this good 
and beautiful woman, was a brother of Henry (Light Horse Harry) Lee. 
He was an eminent lawyer and served as Attorney General of the United 
States under both Washington and John Adams. Succeeding William 
Bradford in Washington’s cabinet, 1795, he continued as a member of the 
President’s official family through the entire administration of John Adams 
and was afterwards one of the counsel for the defense in the trial of Aaron 


Burr. 

Just across the King’s Highway from the temple is Cameron, colonial 
seat of Charles Broadwater, colleague of Washington in the House of 
Burgesses. This homestead, like the valley in which it is located, was 
named for Thomas, the Sixth Lord Fairfax, Baron of Cameron, one of the 
first trustees of Alexandria and owner of the Culpeper grant (see Belvoir). 
Cameron is now and has been for a number of years owned and occupied by 
the Roberts family. The ancestors of these worthy people came to Virginia 
from New Jersey about 1850 with the colony of Friends who purchased and 
preserved Woodlawn (see YNoodlnwn). Cameron A allej reminds one of the 
legend of Sleepy Hollow, so tranquil are its dreamy shades and woody slopes. 
Along its bordering hills in ante-bellum days, and even after the W ar 


99 









THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 


between the States, were situated some fine old mansions whose owners 
and occupants were eminently worthy of their stately homes. On the 
south side, about two miles southwest and in plain view of the Memorial 
facing down the valley to the broad Potomac in the distance, was Clermont, 
seat of General John Mason, son of the great patriot of Gunston Hall. 
He had owned and lived on Analostan Island, opposite the City of Wash¬ 
ington, and also at Georgetown in the District of Columbia, but as old 
age came on, he moved back to his beloved irginia, there to spend the 
evening of his declining years in the midst of his numerous kinsfolk. A 
daughter of General Mason married Commodore Sidney Smith Lee, a 
brother of Robert E. Lee, and became the mother of the celebrated cavalry 
commander, General Fitzhugh Lee, who was born at Clermont, November 
19, 1835. 

On the north side of the ^ alley, directly west of the Memorial Temple, 
and nearly facing Clermont, is Clarens. To this beautiful retreat moved 
James Murray Mason after the Civil War. This amiable and distinguished 
gentleman was the son of General John Mason to whom we have just re¬ 
ferred. A lawyer by profession, he, in early life, located in Winchester, 
Virginia, and soon established a lucrative practice, notwithstanding the 
brilliant array of talent which distinguished the courts throughout the 
Valley of Virginia at that time. In 1822, when only twenty-four years of 
age, he married Miss Eliza M. Chew of Philadelphia, a most happy and 
fortunate union. Increasing years seem to have ripened the devotion of 
this worthy couple for each other. Eliza Chew was his inspiration and to 
her he yielded completely the tenderest affection of a guileless heart. Enter¬ 
ing public life, he was elected to the General Assembly in 1826 and in 1832 
was chosen to represent his district in the National Congress. In 1847 he 
was elected to the United States Senate, where, among men of super 
intellect and accomplishments, he rose to the first rank of distinction. 
He served as chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations and was the 
author of the Fugitive Slave Bill in 1850. When Virginia seceded from the 
Union he retired to his valley home but was immediately elected a member 
of the Confederate Congress and took his seat in that body on July 24, 
1861. While serving in this capacity, he was selected special com¬ 
missioner with powers of a minister plenipotentiary to the government of 
England. 

Mr. Mason sailed from Charleston, South Carolina, on the 12th of 
October, 1861, accompanied by Mr. John Slidell of Louisiana, who had 
been accredited with the same powers to the government of France. Suc¬ 
cessfully running the blockade, the envoys landed in Cuba, October 16, 
where they remained for three weeks. Finally on November 7, the party 
embarked for England on the British Royal Mail Steamer The Trent, in 
command of Captain Moir and bound for Southampton. On the following 


100 








THE TEMPLE AND ITS ENVIRONMENTS 


day they were intercepted while passing through the old Bahama channel 
by the United States ship San Jacinto , Captain Wilkes. The Confederate 
commissioners, with their secretaries, Mr. James E. McFarland of Virginia 
and Mr. George Eustis of Louisiana, were taken from the British vessel 
and conveyed as prisoners of war to Fort Warren in the harbor of Boston 
where they remained until January 1, 1862, when, upon the peremptory 
demand of the English Government for their release, they were placed on 
board the British ship Rinaldo, Captain Hewitt, and transferred to Bermuda, 
where they landed on January 9 and the next day sailed for St. Thomas, 
one of the Bahama group off the coast of Florida. Arriving at St. Thomas 
on the 14th, they were immediately transferred to the British Royal Mail 
Steamer La Plata and on the same day sailed away for England. Arriving 
at Southampton on the twenty-ninth of January, they hurried on to London. 

The Trent or Mason and Slidell incident created great excitement in 
both this country and in Europe. War between the United States and 
England was narrowly averted, and the insult to the British flag increased 
the sympathy for the southern cause not only on the British Isles but 
throughout all her provinces. Mr. Mason, in referring to the treatment 
accorded himself and his party while prisoners on the Trent and at Fort 
Warren, paid grateful tribute to the Union officers in charge for their uni¬ 
form courtesy and respectful consideration. Mr. Mason remained at 
his post of duty in England until after the close of the war. Being, like 
his noble ancestor of Gunston Hall, a wholehearted States Rights man, 
the fall of the Confederacy was a great blow to his proud nature, and he 
accepted the result with melancholy foreboding for the welfare of his 
people. He failed to induce the English Government to recognize the 
Southern Confederacy, which was the great object of his mission, but his 
dignified, manly conduct, while residing abroad, won for him unstinted 
praise from the leading statesmen of Europe. 

Immediately after Lee’s surrender, Mrs. Mason and her daughters 
made their way to Canada to join that numerous colony of expatriated 
southerners who had taken refuge in that friendly province. Mr. Mason 
sailed from England on May 3, 1866, on the ship Moravian. He joined his 
family in Montreal on the 26th of the same month. After spending several 
years in Canada, lie returned with his family to Virginia and on September 
24, 1869, took possession of Clarens. His surroundings here were most 
agreeable. A number of his old associates lived in close proximity. Among 
these was his brother-in-law, General Samuel Cooper, who, though a north¬ 
ern man by birth, had espoused the southern cause and had become Adju¬ 
tant General of the Southern Army, the same position he had held in the old 
Union Army before resigning his commission in 1861, and who lived then 
at Cameron. Old age was creeping on, the constant worries due to great 
responsibility and long separation from his wife and children had under- 


101 





THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 


mined Mr. Mason's strong constitution and, surrounded by his stricken 
family, he died at Clarens, April 28, 1871. Reared in that old school of 
strict construction, he entertained a high conception of the duties of a 
public servant. His fidelity to every trust, however great the personal 
sacrifice, and the exalted virtue of his private life, makes this descendant 
a worthy scion of the noble sage and political philosopher of Gunston Hall. 


102 





THE TEMPLE AND ITS ENVIRONMENTS 



MOUNT EAGLE 


UT TWO MILES southwest of Alexandria on that chain of 
Is which skirts the Potomac River from the head of tide-water 
Washington to the stately cliffs of Nomani, some sixty miles 
low, stood and still stands, though greatly changed in appear- 
Eagle, the modest home of Bryan, the Eighth Lord Fairfax. 
The building fronts northeast and can be plainly seen from the public 
highway from Alexandria to Mount Vernon or points south. The site 
commands a beautiful view of the Potomac River and the surrounding 
country with Alexandria in the immediate foreground and the city of 
Washington in the distance. This royalist, though trusted friend of 
Washington, had an ideal country home in complete rapport with his 
cultured tastes and religious trend of mind. 

Bryan, the Eighth Lord Fairfax, was the son of Colonel William and 
Deborah Fairfax of Belvoir. Born at his father’s seat on the Potomac 
three miles below Mount Vernon in 1730, lie was ten years old when young 
George Washington took up his temporary abode in the Fairfax home. 



ance, Mount 


103 






























THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 


Brought in daily contact with the studious young surveyor at an age 
when impressions formed endure through life, their friendship lasted un¬ 
broken for over fifty years notwithstanding the wide difference of opinion 
on the political issues which finally separated the colonies from the Mother 
Country. Upon the death of Thomas, the Sixth Lord Fairfax, in 1781, the 
title to the barony went to Robert, a younger brother of Lord Thomas. 
Robert Fairfax, like his predecessor, died without issue and, being the last 
in direct line of descent, the barony passed to a collateral line of the Fair¬ 
fax family and was confirmed by the House of Lords in Bryan Fairfax of 
Mount Eagle in 1800. The fact that this scion of English nobility preserved 
the esteem of Washington and his numerous other patriotic neighbors in 
the community is sufficient proof of his intrinsic worth as a citizen. He 
did not seek public office but served as a justice of the magisterial court of 
Fairfax County with such men as George Mason and George Washington, 
and his picture is one of that honored group which adorns the walls of old 
Fairfax County Court House. In the later years of his life he was ordained 
a minister of the Episcopal faith and served as rector of Christ Church in 
Alexandria and at the Falls Church in Fairfax County in 1790-92. 

Mount Eagle was the last private residence visited by Washington, and 
Bryan Fairfax was the last visitor to Mount Vernon before the General’s 
death. He attended Washington’s funeral and, with his son Ferdinando, is 
numbered amongst the principal mourners. In 1759 he married Elizabeth, 
daughter of Colonel Wilson Cary of Ceelys, Virginia, and had several 
children, the eldest of whom, Thomas, who lived at Vaucluse, a few miles 
west of Alexandria, inherited the title and became the Ninth Baron of the 
Fairfax line. Bryan Fairfax died at Mount Eagle, August 7, 1802, and is 
buried in Ivy Hill cemetery not far from the Memorial to Washington the 
Mason. His grave, marked by a simple shaft, is almost in sight of the 
electric railroad which, year after year, transports venerating thousands to 
the home and tomb of his boyhood friend. 


104 





THE TEMPLE AND ITS ENVIRONMENTS 



MOUNT VERNON, VIRGINIA 



MOUNT VERNON 

HE] STORY of Mount Vernon, while among the most interesting 
subjects before the American public, has been so completely 
covered by reliable historians that any effort to add something 
new or to record the old facts in a more interesting and instruc¬ 
tive form would prove a difficult, if not an impossible task, when confined to 
a mere sketch, as this reference to the famous homestead must of necessity 
be. Yet, as one of the principal objects of interest environing the memorial 
to Washington the Mason, we cannot pass it by without at least a brief 
allusion. The subject is minutely and very correctly treated in Paul 
Wi Is tack’s “Mount Vernon,” Doctor Thomas Nelson Page’s “Southern 
Matron,” and in “Washington the Man and the Mason.” We will there¬ 
fore briefly review that part of the subject which relates to its acquisition, 
redemption and preservation by the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, 
with just enough of anterior information to connect the subject. 


105 













THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 


Under General Washington’s will his widow held a life estate in Mount 
Vernon farms, consequently no distribution of this property was made 
until after her death on May 22, 1802. At that time the household con¬ 
sisted of Major Lawrence Lewis and wife, Nellie (nee Custis), their infant 
daughter, and George Washington Parke Custis. Immediately after the 
death of Mrs. Washington the estate was divided amongst the several 
legatees in accordance with the reversionary clause in the General’s will, 
and as a consequence the family was dispersed. 

George Washington Parke Curtis married and erected Arlington. 
Lawrence Lewis and his wife, Nellie, erected and moved to Woodlawn, three 
miles west of Mount Vernon, and Judge Bushrod Washington, nephew of 
the General (son of his brother John Augustine), who had inherited the 
mansion and 4,000 acres of the land contiguous thereto, came into his 
legacy. Judge Washington died on November 26, 1829, and his wife the 
next day without issue. Upon his death a further distribution of the 
property was made amongst his several relatives. The mansion and 
1,225 acres adjoining he devised to his nephew, John A. Washington, son 
of his (Bushrod's) brother Corbin of Jefferson County, now West Virginia, 
this John A. Washington died June 16, 1832, and bequeathed his entire 
estate to his wife, Mrs. Jane C. Washington, with power to divide his 
property amongst his children, or to sell Mount Vernon or any part of it to 
the Congress of the United States. In conformity to the provisions of her 
husband’s will Mrs. Jane Washington gave the Mount Vernon bequest to 
her son, John A., September 18, 1849, and confirmed the deed of gift in her 
will. She died in 1855, and her remains were the last to be interred in the 
family vault at Mount Vernon. Her son, to whom she first gave and later 
willed the property, foreseeing the difficulty of a private individual main¬ 
taining the place as it should be, several times offered to dispose of it to the 
Federal Government, as suggested in his father's will, and at a very low 
price. Failing in this effort, it was then proposed that the Legislature of 
^ irginia buy and preserve the estate, and on two occasions, first in Decem¬ 
ber, 185o, and again in 1855, Governor Johnson in special messages urged 
its purchase and complete restoration by the Commonwealth. But all 
these efforts were fruitless. 

It was at this critical period when all efforts to enlist the aid of State 
and Federal Governments to rescue the revered homestead from total ruin 
had failed that the hand of Providence provided an instrument and pointed 
the way. The land of Sumter, of Laurens, of Marion and Pinkney was still 
the home of sentiment, as it is today, and amongst those of abiding confi¬ 
dence in the American people and a deep veneration for all that pertained to 
the founder of our Republic was Ann Pamela Cunningham, an invalid 
daughter of the Old South, born in affluence and trained in the best 
schools of her native state. When on the very threshhold of womanhood, 


106 





THE TEMPLE AND ITS ENVIRONMENTS 


MOUNT VERNON AS IT WAS IN 1858 



she was stricken with a painful spinal trouble, which baffled the skill of the 
medical profession and in the end proved incurable. As a last resort, to 
relieve the patient sufferer, her parents resolved to place their child under 
the care of a famous specialist in Philadelphia. On the way up the Po¬ 
tomac River, while passing Mount Vernon, as was the custom, the steamer’s 
bell began to toll the solemn notice that the vessel was abreast of the home 
of Washington. Mrs. Cunningham understood its significance and im¬ 
parted the information to her daughter, informing her also of the sad 
condition of affairs at the beloved homestead. Then and there was formed 
that firm resolve in the mind of Miss Cunningham to save the venerated 
mansion from total ruin and to consecrate it as a shrine for the American 
people. 

From her invalid chair on the third day of December, 1853, the pain- 
racked sufferer sent out her first appeal reciting the facts in the case. This 
appeal aroused the dormant sympathies of the people. It did more— 
it awakened the thinking men and women of the country to a sense of their 
patriotic duty, brought Washington Irving, the man of letters, from his 
retirement to the field of literature again, and Edward Everett, the great 
chautauquist, mounted the rostrum to herald the sad story from end to end of 


107 
















THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 


the country. It took years of constant toil, but in the end the object of Miss 
Cunningham and her co-workers was accomplished. Mt. Vernon was saved. 

Mr. Washington had a standing offer of $300,000 for the place from 
an enterprising company whose purpose was to convert it into a public 
resort. This proposal did not meet his approval and was, of course, re¬ 
jected. Through a misunderstanding of the real objects of the Associa¬ 
tion, Mr. Washington did not at first take kindly to their proposals. But 
when the real nature of the organization was fully explained he readily 
approved their plan and later transferred the mansion and 202 acres of 
land to the Association for the sum of $200,000, or for $100,000 less than he 
had been previously offered. 

On the 19th of March, 1858, an Act incorporating the Mount Vernon 
Ladies’ Association was passed by the General Assembly of Virginia, under 
which this organization now holds the title to the mansion and about 237 
acres of the land surrounding it. If the Association ceases to exist or fails 
to perform its trust, as provided in the charter, the place reverts to the 
State of ^ irginia. The Association obtained formal possession of the 
property February 22, 1860. The organization is composed entirely of 
ladies representing every state that took part in the movement inaugurated 
by Miss Cunningham. These ladies elect from their number a President 
who is known as Regent; the others are designated Vice-Regents. 

The Council meets annually at Mount Vernon in May and usually 
remains in session about ten days. They receive no compensation other 
than actual traveling expenses. There have been but four Regents—the 
founder, Miss Cunningham, who served from 1853 to 1874; Mrs. Lily M. 
Berghman of Pennsylvania, 1874 to 1891; Mrs. Justine Van Rensselaer 
Townsend of New York, who served until 1909, when Miss Harriet E. 
Comegys of Delaware, the present incumbent, was chosen. During the War 
between the States the property was under the control of Mr. Upton H. 
Herbert of Alexandria, irginia, who was the first superintendent, and Miss 
S. C. Tracy of New York was secretary of the Association. Mr. Herbert 
relinquished his position in 1869 and, as a happy sequence, married Miss 
Tracy in 1870. After Mr. Herbert’s resignation Miss Cunningham assumed 
personal charge of the premises and continued in this capacity without com¬ 
pensation until 1872, when her health completely failed. Colonel J. M. 
Hollingsworth was then made resident secretary and superintendent and 
served until the 15th day of July, 1885, when Mr. Harrison II. Dodge was 
elected and still fills the important post with Air. James Aoung as Ins assist¬ 
ant. For nearly fifty years the writer has lived within a few miles of this 
famous homestead and can, from personal observation, testify to the inde- 
fatigable anti faithful sere ices of those in charge of the premises. This, 
above all considerations, is what the American people want and, under the 
circumstances, is all they have a right to demand. 


108 





THE TEMPLE AND ITS ENVIRONMENTS 


The principal actors in the historic drama, whose climax and thrilling 
finale was the purchase and restoration of Mount Vernon as a legacy for the 
American people, have long since passed away, and the names of some of 
them are fast sinking beneath the gathering shadows of the past. Is this the 
proper reward for their noble service? Their graves should be kept green 
by loving hands, and loyal pens should revive their memories and keep them 
forever fresh in the minds of all true lovers of American freedom as illus¬ 
trious examples of incomparable perseverence and heroic devotion to 
patriotic principle. 

Miss Cunningham died at her ancestral home at Laurens, South Caro¬ 
lina, May 1, 1875, in the 59th year of her age, and at her own request her 
remains were carried to Columbia, South Carolina, and laid to rest in the 
churchyard of the First Presbyterian Church of that city. Our illustra¬ 
tions show the condition in which the Association found the mansion in 
1858 and as it is today under the watchful care and ever vigilant guardians 
of its present owners. Few, indeed, of the thousands who annually wend 
their way to this venerated shrine and delight in its broad vistas and beauti¬ 
ful surroundings ever hear of the struggle it cost in mental anguish and 
ceaseless toil to raise the money to bring it back from its former state. But 
as a precious part of the history of our land and an eloquent testimonial of 
the exalted worth of American womanhood it should be written on tablets 
in our nation’s home and taught in the schools by American preceptors that 
unborn generations of liberty loving children may bless the name of Ann 
Pamela Cunningham and those who shared her labor, her anxiety, her 
disappointments and her success. 


109 





THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 




WOODLAWN, VIRGINIA 


WOODLAWN 

ENERAL WASHINGTON, in his will, divided his Mount 
Vernon farms into three parts. The mansion and 4,000 acres 
of land adjacent thereto he willed to his nephew, Judge Bushrod 
Washington, son of his brother, John Augustine Washington. 
The section east of Hunting Creek, containing 2,000 acres, more or less, he 
bequeathed to his nephews, George Fayette and Lawrence Augustine 
Washington, sons of George A. Washington and Fannie Bassett, who was 
Mrs. Washingtons niece. Jliat portion lying west of the road running 
from the grist mill to the crossing at Little Hunting Creek (see illustrated 
map), containing about 2,000 acres, he willed to his nephew, Lawrence 
Lewis, and wife Nellie. 

The southwestern section of the tracts, inherited by Air. and Airs. Lewis, 
is an elevated plain commanding a beautiful prospect of the Potomac River 



110 



















THE TEMPLE AND ITS ENVIRONMENTS 


and the surrounding country. This highland General Washington selected 
as a suitable location for the future home of his adopted daughter, and in 
compliance with his wish or suggestion, which is contained in a letter written 
just before his death, Lawrence Lewis, about 1804, erected on the site selected 
by the General one of the most imposing residences in Northern Virginia. 
To this elegant home, which they named Woodlawn, the favored nephew 
and petted ward of Washington moved after the death of Mrs. Washington 
and the dissolution of her family at Mount Vernon. 

Tradition informs us that the stately structure was designed by the 
General during the last year of his life, and, while we have been unable to 
substantiate this time-honored rumor, it is not improbable that such was the 
ease in view of the facts stated above, and that the Lewises were among the 
principal residuary legatees in the wills of both the General and his wife. 
Woodlawn is situated about three miles inland from Mount Vernon on the 
public highway from Alexandria to Richmond and is a much more pre¬ 
tentious and imposing structure than the Mount \ ernon mansion. It was 
occupied by the Lewises about forty-two years, or from 1804 until 1840, 
and there can be little doubt that the beautiful Nellie, as mistress of this 
splendid manor, maintained her reputation as a social leader and charming 
hostess. 

After the death of her husband in 1839 Mrs. Lewis moved to Audley, 
an estate of the Major near Berryville in Clarke County, Virginia, leaving 
her son, Lorenzo Lewis, in charge of the premises. Abandoned by its 
owner, the once beautiful farm, the most desirable part of the Mount Vernon 
estate, presented a sad and desolate appearance. Woodlawn, the stately 
home of the foster child of Washington, the grandchild of his wife, like 
Mount Vernon, was yielding to the ruthless grind of time and the constant 
war of the elements. But, as in the case of Mount Vernon, the kindly fates 
had decreed against its total destruction. The ways of Providence are as 
mysterious in the small things of human life as in the mighty organization 
of the universe, and the story of the redemption and preservation of Wood¬ 
lawn Farm and mansion is as interesting in a way, though less romantic, as 
that of Mount Vernon, to which, with Abingdon and Arlington, it was so 
closely allied. 

One of the early industries of the Atlantic Seaboard, which is fast 
disappearing, was the construction of wooden vessels for commercial pur¬ 
poses. This business created a constant demand for suitable timber, and 
every section of the coast was carefully searched for the species of oak re¬ 
quired. In 1845 Jacob Troth, P. Hilman Troth and Chalklev Gillingham of 
New Jersey, with Joseph Gillingham of Philadelphia, organized a company 
for this purpose and engaged Thomas Wright and Lucas Gillingham to 
locate and purchase land containing the size and species of timber in demand. 
These trusted agents landed on the James River and traveled northward 


111 





THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 


through the entire tide-water section of Virginia without success. Several 
months were occupied in this fruitless search. Despairing of success, they 
were about to abandon the project when, nearing the end of their long 
journey, they came to the virtually abandoned home of the Lewises. There 
in great quantities was the quality of timber they desired. Woodlawn was 
for sale, and the reports of the agents led to its purchase. The occupants, 
Lorenzo Lewis and family, moved out, and Thomas Wright and family took 
possession of the premises for the company on December 13, 1846. 

Not a panel of fence remained on the place, and the once fertile fields 
were all devoted to a vigorous growth of bushes and briars. Herds of wild 
hogs, cattle and deer roamed at will and undisturbed over the neglected 
fields. From that time, 1846, those interested in the company began to 
arrive with their families, and the laudable work of restoration began. The 
colony was composed almost exclusively of the Society of Friends or Quakers 
and proved a veritable boon to the community, where many of their worthy 
descendants still live. They transformed the neglected waste land into 
highly cultivated valuable farms, and as a result of their labor the Wood- 
lawn community is today one of the garden spots of old Fairfax County. 

The mansion has been entirely restored, as the accompanying illustra¬ 
tion shows, and is at present, as it was in the early days of its first occupants, 
a strikingly beautiful residence. It is now owned by Miss Elizabeth M. 
Sharpe, who is devoted to her famous home and spares no attention or 
expense to preserve it in a condition worthy of its founders. The build¬ 
ing has been pronounced by a celebrated author one of the most perfect 
types of the Georgian style of architecture in America. It is but justice to 
state that during the war with Germany Miss Sharpe, with a broad and 
patriotic spirit, kept open house for the officers and men of Camp A. A. 
Humphreys, a nearby military cantonment. All were welcome, and all, 

I am informed, from the commanding officer to the private in the ranks, 
were treated alike. 

Major Lewis died at Arlington November 30, 1839, and his remains 
were deposited in the vault at Mount Vernon. His wife died at Audley, her 
home in the Shenandoah Valley, July 15, 1852. Mrs. Lewis’s remains were 
brought to Mount Vernon and interred by the side of the tomb where rests 
her distinguished foster parent, her grandmother and her husband. A 
well-known writer has left us a vivid description (the substance which he 
received from the grandson of Mrs. Lewis) of the journey from Audley to 
Mount Vernon with the remains of Mrs. Lewis and the arrival at* the 
beloved home of her childhood and youth after the lonely funeral procession 
from the distant Shenandoah. 

To the watcher from the farmhouse and village that must have been a 
lonely and mournful fimeral procession indeed as it slowly wended its course 


112 





THE TEMPLE AND ITS ENVIRONMENTS 


down the long Virginia highway from the Shenandoah to the Potomac. The 
hearse containing the remains of the aged grandmother and a solitary carriage 
accompanied it with the two surviving grandsons, one of whom was lately living 
to tell of the impressive circumstances of the event. Late at night their journey 
was finished, and the coffined form of Nellie was placed in the parlor at Mount 
Vernon, where more than fifty years before, crowned with bridal wreaths the 
fairest lady of the land, Washington himself had affectionately given her in 
marriage and commended her to the protecting care of the one favorite claimant 
of his choice, and where she had received the congratulations and blessings of so 
many of her kinfolk and friends. 

Many of the citizens of Alexandria and Washington and the surrounding 
country came to pay their tributes of fond remembrance and regard to Nellie 
as she lay in state in the mansion and to see the last of earth to earth. Down 
in the family burial place just by the waters of the river on whose pleasant banks 
she had passed so many happy days in childhood and youth, her dust is very 
near to that of her kind and loving guardians. 

A marble monument marks her last resting place with the following 
inscription: 


Sacred 

to the memory of Eleanor Parke Custis, granddaughter of 
Mrs. Washington and adopted daughter 
of General George Washington. 


Reared under the roof of the Father of his Country, this lady was not 
more remarkable for the beauty of her person than for the superiority of her 
mind. She lived to be admired and died to be regretted, July 15, 1852, 
in the seventy-fourth year of her age. Another handsome monument in the 
same iron enclosure marks the resting place of her daughter, Eleanor 
Angela Conrad. 

Adjoining Woodlawn on the north is Hayfield, seat of Lund Washington, 
Washington’s faithful and trusted manager and kinsman who guarded and 
preserved Mount Vernon during the Revolutionary War. General Wash¬ 
ington returned home from the War of Independence $15,000 in debt. To 
liquidate this indebtedness he sold to his manager 365 acres of the western 
section of Mount Vernon for the above-named sum. The large brick dwell¬ 
ing on Hayfield, which tradition says was erected by General Washington 
before the Revolution, was burned several years ago, but the solid brick 
walls remain as a sad reminder of the fidelity of Lund V ashington. 

On the southeast and adjoining Woodlawn is Belvoir, home of the 
Fairfaxes, but that is another story. 


113 





THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 



SALLY CARY EAIRFAX 


114 


DEBORAH FAIRFAX 











THE TEMPLE AND ITS ENVIRONMENTS 


BELVOIR 



OR OVER FIFT\ YEARS after the close of the seventeenth 
century, the northern portion of Virginia might have been 
appropriately designated as Fairfax land, so extensive were the 
possessions and so potent the influence of these mighty land 
barons in that section of the colony. With this interest and these people 
Washington is to be intimately associated through all the years of his event¬ 
ful career. It would be difficult indeed to write an intelligent synopsis 
of the life of George Washington without connecting him in some way with 
this powerful family. So closely are their lives interwoven, and such was 
the influence of this association upon his public career, that it becomes 
logically and essentially a part of his biography without which the story 
would be incomplete. Their ancestors had intermarried in the mother 
country generations before, and their descendants were destined to do like¬ 
wise in the new land. 

In 1673 Charles II granted his favorites, the Earl of Arlington and Lord 
Culpeper, once Governor of Virginia, letters patent to that extensive domain 
known as the Northern Neck, lying between the Potomac and Rappahan¬ 
nock rivers and extending from the Chesapeake Bay to the headwaters of 
said rivers. Having purchased the proprietary rights of Arlington in 1683, 
five years later King James II confirmed the questionable title. Thus, for 
a nominal consideration and by a single stroke of his kingly pen, this dis¬ 
credited monarch had transferred to his “crony,” Culpeper, 5,700,000 acres 
of Virginia land, comprising in its vast area what now constitutes twenty 
counties, or one-fifth of the present commonwealth of Virginia. 

On the death of Culpeper, the grant descended to his daughter, Lady 
Catherine Culpeper Fairfax, who, in turn, bequeathed it to her son, the 
Right Honorable Thomas, sixth Lord Fairfax, Baron Cameron. 

The Virginia agents in charge of this property failed to give satisfaction 
to the proprietor. They appear to have been more concerned about their 
own fortunes than the interest of his lordship. To remedy this condition 
Lord Thomas, in 1734, induced his first cousin, Colonel William Fairfax, 
son of his father’s brother, Henry, to resign a royal commission and accept 
the more lucrative one of general superintendent of his lordship’s entire 
interest in the colony. 

Educated in the best schools of England, William Fairfax enjoyed 
the additional advantage of practical experience in public life to equip him 
for the arduous duties of his new situation. He had been a soldier in Queen 
Anne’s War, Chief Justice of the Bahamas, Governor of the Isle of Provi¬ 
dence and Collector of the Port of Salem, Massachusetts Bay, acquitting 
himself throughout with signal ability. His first wife, Sarah Walker, 


115 











THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 


daughter of Colonel Walker of Nassau, whom he married while in the 
Bahama Islands, died in 1731. By her he had four children, George 
William, Thomas, Anne (married Lawrence Washington), and Sarah 
(married Major John Carlyle of Alexandria). Shortly after the demise of 
his wife, and in deference to her death-bed request or desire, he married 
Deborah Clark, widow of Francis Clark and daughter of the Honorable 
Bartholomew Gedney of Salem. Deborah Clark was a woman of exalted 
character and extraordinary intelligence, whose unfeigned piety and 
motherly affection made a deep and wholesome impression, not only on the 
minds of her own children and the children of her husband by his first wife, 
but upon the young George Washington as well, who was a frequent and 
welcome visitor at her house and over whom she seems to have exercised a 
most salutary influence. 

On arriving in Virginia, Colonel Fairfax resided for a short while in 
Westmoreland County, and there, no doubt, made the acquaintance of 
the Washington family. Later on he moved to the upper Potomac and 
established a permanent seat, selecting as a proper site for his residence 
an eminence overlooking and commanding a fine prospect of the broad and 
beautiful Potomac River, about three miles below the present Mount 
Vernon house and separated from that farm by Dogue Creek. Around this 
old homestead, which he named “Belvoir” (beautiful to see) in honor of 
his ancestral manor in England, and of which not even a picture remains, 
gather some of the most interesting events of an intensely interesting and 
historic epoch. In it Lawrence Washington, the eldest half-brother of 
George, was married to Anne, daughter of Colonel William Fairfax, July 
19, 1743. In it also Major John Carlyle married Sarah, another daughter 
of Colonel William Fairfax. To it came Lord Thomas, owner of the grant 
in 1739, on his first visit to Virginia, and again in 1746, when, after disposing 
of his English estates, he returned to take up his permanent residence in 
the colony. Here his lordship made the acquaintance and formed a friend¬ 
ship for the boy, George Washington, who from the very first seems to have 
strangely and irresistibly appealed to the peculiar nobleman. 

The circumstances which led up to this meeting are worthy of note. 
Through the influence of Lawrence Washington, and his father-in-law, 
William Fairfax, a commission in the British Navy had been obtained for 
the youthful George. His mother refused to give her consent to the boy 
going to sea, and the project was abandoned. Lawrence Washington then 
took his young kinsman to Mount Vernon and installed him in the home of 
William Fairfax (Belvoir) to pursue his studies in surveying under George 
William Fairfax, son of the proprietor. The meeting of the famous lord 
was a sequence of the change and an epoch in the lives of both—England, 
perhaps, lost a naval hero, but the nation gained a parent, Fairfax a good 
surveyor, and Washington a loyal friend. 


116 





THE TEMPLE AND ITS ENVIRONMENTS 


His school days over, Washington on the lltli day of March, 1748, left 
the hospitable Fairfax home on the Potomac and accompanied by his pre¬ 
ceptor, George William Fairfax, journeyed to the Valley of Virginia to enter 
the service of the Lord Proprietor, but his letters show that even in the 
wilderness his thoughts constantly reverted to Bel voir and the good friends 
who resided there. For forty years Belvoir was the seat of one of the most 
refined and distinguished families in the northern section of Virginia and was 
noted for its princely hospitality. A man of ample means, genial disposition 
and unquestionable ability, Colonel William Fairfax soon became an active 
and prominent factor in the political affairs of the province and, as a member 
and afterwards president of the Colonial Council, occupied a position of 
influence and importance second only to the Governor. In addition to this, 
he was collector of the Royal Customs on the upper Potomac and a vestry¬ 
man and warden in the parish and trustee of the town of Alexandria, which 
he helped to organize and continued active in all these duties until the time 
of his death in 1757. 

His son, George William (who was the only companion of young 
Washington on his first trip to the Valley of Virginia), also became promi¬ 
nent in very early life, succeeding his father in after years in several im¬ 
portant public positions. He maintained, by strict and conscientious 
attention to business, the honorable reputation of his parent for faithful 
public service. While a member of the House of Burgesses and at the age 
of only twenty-four, he married Miss Sally Cary, daughter of Wilson Cary 
of Celes, a celebrated belle of Williamsburg and an heiress in her own right. 
She became, as most people did who knew him well, an admirer of the 
manly qualities and unusual attainments of the young surveyor with whom 
she was now, as a resident of Belvoir, frequently thrown in company, and 
had ample opportunity to observe the intrinsic worth of his character. It 
will be remembered that Lawrence Washington was also a member of the 
House of Burgesses during that period. Thus we have, from the same 
community and virtually from the same family, three representatives in the 
Colonial Council. 

Just before the Revolutionary war, George William Fairfax, who had 
inherited from his father the family homestead, accompanied by his wife, 
visited England with the full intention of returning, but circumstances 
prevented the consummation of this desire. On their way to the mother 
country they met the vessels bearing hither the ‘‘ ill-fated tea,” which was 
to arouse the colonies to bitter resentment and eventually lead to armed 
resistance. They finally settled in the city of Bath, where both died and 
were buried, he in 1787 and she in 1811. 

On the departure of George Fairfax and his wife for England, General 
(then Colonel) Washington became the agent for his American estate, but 
later, as the difficulties with the mother country increased and matters of 


117 





THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 


great public moment demanded his attention, he resigned the commission, 
giving as his reason lack of time to devote proper attention to its care. 

In August, 1774, by order of the owner, Colonel Washington disposed 
of the contents of Belvoir House at public auction, and judging from an 
inventory of the sale, which is still in existence, it must have been luxuri¬ 
ously and elegantly fitted. The purchases made by Washington alone 
amounted to nearly two hundred pounds sterling, and comprised in after 
years some of the most valuable furniture of Mount Vernon House, several 
pieces of which have been restored by the ladies of The Mount Vernon 
Association to their former place in the mansion. 

General Washington, even in his declining years, cherished the fondest 
recollections of these old associates and wrote to Mrs. George William Fair¬ 
fax in England the year before he died: 


Mt. Vernon, 16th May, 1798. 

My Dear Madam: 

Five and twenty years have nearly passed away since I have considered myself 
as the permanent resident of this place, or have been in a situation to indulge 
myself in a familiar intercourse with friends by letter or otherwise. During this 
period so many important events have occurred, and such changes in men and 
things have taken place as the compass of a letter would give you inadequate 
idea of. None of which events, however, nor all of them together have been 
able to eradicate from my mind the recollection of those happy moments—the 
happiest in my life, which I have enjoyed in your company. ... It is a matter 
of sore regret, when I cast my eyes toward Belvoir, which I often do, to reflect 
that the former inhabitants of it, with whom w r e lived with such harmony and 
friendship, no longer reside there, and that the ruins can only be viewed as the 
mementoes of former pleasures. 

He was thinking also, it may be, of the days of his youth, when this 
same good woman, with her husband and her husband’s kin, encouraged his 
laudable ambition, and by their united influence led him to the door of 
opportunity, and the world knows the rest. 

As time heals, so does it destroy, and Belvoir House, with its wide 
verandas and airy halls, has gone with the happy throngs that gathered 
round its hearthstone in the long ago. Fire practically consumed the house 
in the early part of the Revolution, and British battleships in the War of 
1812 completed the destruction and leveled its crumbling walls. Scarcely 
a brick remains to show where this palatial homestead stood, and only the 
half-filled excavations, now covered with tangled Virginia creeper and 
interlacing bramble vines, mark the place where once the height of fashion 
reigned. It is a sad commentary that the good and pious mother, Deborah, 
and her distinguished and benevolent husband, Colonel William Fairfax, 
father-in-law of Lawrence Washington and friend and preceptor of the 


118 





THE TEMPLE AND ITS ENVIRONMENTS 


youthful George, rest forgotten and, until recently, in unmarked graves, in 
the depths of a lonely forest, close by the neglected site of their stately 
home which for years was the center of an opulent and cultured association. 
Mrs. Deborah Fairfax died in 1747, beloved by all who knew her, and ten 
years later Colonel William, advanced in years and crowned with merited 
honors, also passed away. 

By his second wife, William Fairfax left three children: Bryan, who 
became Rector of Christ Church in Alexandria, Virginia, and the Eighth 
Lord of the line, who died at Mount Eagle, Fairfax County, Virginia, in 
1802; William Henry, a soldier killed at Quebec in 1759; and Hannah, who 
married Warner Washington, first cousin of the General. 

The Bel voir estate passed out of the Fairfax family nearly a century 
ago, and is now owned by the Federal Government and occupied as a 
military post known as Fort A. A. Humphries. Here were quartered during 
the late war some thirty thousand recruits; the first contingent to arrive 
at the place was a battalion of young engineers. This writer, then engaged 
in war work, visited the camp and in a short address explained its history. 
The simple story aroused the red blood of these whole-hearted Americans. 
“Where are these graves?” they asked. “Show us the ruins of the old 
mansion, and we’ll clear the rubbish away.” From colonel to private, all 
were interested. This was on Friday night. The Sunday following lie 
met them at the appointed place. It was the soldiers’ holiday, and over a 
hundred of these husky doughboys, all young officers, were waiting with 
axes, picks, shovels and brier hooks ready for the work of reclamation. 
They cleared the undergrowth from the burial plot and ruins of the man¬ 
sion; fenced in the little cemetery, and erected a substantial log enclosure 
around the graves of Colonel William and Deborah Fairfax. In the center 
of this enclosure they erected a cross with the legend, “Beneath this Marker 
Lies the Remains of William and Deborah Fairfax, Friends and Patrons 
of Geo. Washington. Do Not Trespass.” 

It was the spirit of the real American—of the Puritan and the Cavalier 
trailing down from the Revolution—manifest again in the khaki-clad 
youth’s veneration for the dim footprints of the surveyor and the loyal 
friends who directed his early career, and gave him a chance to win. 

Before the work of excavating the ruins was completed the first battal¬ 
ion was transferred to other fields, or assigned to separated posts of duty. 
Others came and resumed the unfinished task, but the temporary nature of 
their sojourn prevented its completion, and so they remain a tangled mass 
of Virginia creeper, of scattered bricks and crumbling mortar. 

(Since the above was written the writer has learned that a lineal 
descendant of William and Deborah Fairfax has purchased a fine 
monument and will erect it over the long neglected graves of his worthy 
ancestors.) 


119 





THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 



WEST VIEW OF GUNSTON HALL 


GUNSTON HALL 

UNSTON HALL, home of George Mason, the renowned Amer¬ 
ican patriot, was erected in 1753-1758, and is located about five 
miles below Mount Vernon in an air line. Here lived, wrought, 
died, and in the family “plot” nearby lies buried one of the 
greatest men of a great period. Friend and co-worker with Washington 
in the cause for independence, he stands second to none in the annals of 
America as a constructive statesman and aggressive patriot. Of a retiring 
disposition, he shunned, rather than sought, public life. He lived quietly 
the simple life of an “old time planter, ’ wedded to rural pursuits and 
domestic affairs, and yet he avoided no responsibility which he considered 
the duty of a good citizen to perform. Elected a vestryman of Truro 
Parish in 1749, he served continuously in this capacity for thirty-five 
years (until 1/84), part of the time (eleven years) with George Washing¬ 
ton as an associate. He was a member of the Town Council, or Board of 
Trustees, of Alexandria from 1754 to the incorporation of the city in 1789. 
He was first elected to the House of Burgesses in 1759, but it was not to 
his liking, and he refused to stand for re-election. When the disturbing 
period of the Revolution came he voluntarily stepped forth from seclusion. 
Firm in his conviction as to what constituted the rights of the Colonies, 



120 








THE TEMPLE AND ITS ENVIRONMENTS 


he boldly declared his position long before the active struggle for inde¬ 
pendence began, and when there was no longer hope for reconciliation 
he wrote: “If I can only live to see the American Union firmly fixed and 
free government established in our western world, and can leave to my 
children but a crust of bread and liberty, I shall die satisfied and say with 
the Psalmist, ‘Lord, now lettest thou, thy servant, depart in peace.’” And 
in the revolution he wrote: “I will risk the last penny of my fortune and the 
last drop of my blood upon the issue.” 

Washington’s selection by the National Congress to command the 
continental forces left a vacancy in the Fairfax County delegation in the 
General Assembly of Virginia. Mason had already attracted attention 
as early as 1773. The public mind was in a state of great agitation, which 
was being constantly fomented by the radical conduct of England in her 
dealings with the colonies. Public meetings of protest were being held in 
various localities, and among these was the meeting of the freeholders of 
Fairfax County in Alexandria on July 18, 1774. Washington presided and 
Mason prepared the resolutions of protest, consisting of twenty-six clauses. 
These resolves constitute, according to Spark’s, “the ablest exposition of 
the points at issue between Great Britain and the Colonies to be found 
among the public documents of that period.” The publication of the 
Fairfax County resolves throughout the colony pointed Mason out as the 
logical successor of General Washington in Virginia’s legislative body. 
Public sentiment forced him to accept the appointment, and he took his 
seat in the Convention of Delegates which had superseded the House of 
Burgesses on July 17, 1774. 

From this date really begins Mason’s public career. He was appointed 
on every important committee and made chairman of several, three times 
declining a seat in the National Congress when such men as Jefferson, 
Richard Henry Lee, Peyton Randolph, Benjamin Harrison, George Wythe 
and Thomas Nelson, Jr., would have been his colleagues. Notwithstanding 
the important part taken by Mason in this convention, his real service to 
the country as a constructive statesman did not begin until the next year, 
1776. On May 6,1776, just six weeks after the evacuation of Boston, this 
convention assembled in Williamsburg. It was the fifth and last of the 
emergency assemblies by which the province had been governed since 
Dunmore dissolved the burgesses in 1774. From that time (1776) constitu¬ 
tional government took its rightful place. A resolution declaring the colony 
a free and independent state, prepared by Edmund Pendleton and offered 
in the convention by Thomas Nelson, Jr., was unanimously adopted. 
Whatever might be the action of Congress, Virginia had made the final 
decision. She was to be an independent commonwealth. 

On the loth a Committee of Twenty-eight was appointed to prepare a 
declaration of rights and constitution for the new republic and, notwith- 


121 








THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 



EAST VIEW OF GUNSTON HALL 


standing that it consisted of the best men in the colony, twenty-two of 
whom were lawyers, and that it included Edmund Randolph, James Madi¬ 
son, Patrick Henry, John Blair and others of this type. Mason, the farmer 
from Fairfax, was selected to draw both instruments, and did it. Just nine 
days after his appointment on the committee, on the 27th of May (1776), the 
declaration was reported from the special committee. It was referred to the 
Committee of the Whole Convention and, after careful consideration, was 
finally adopted on the 15th of June. On the 29th of the same month, five 
days before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the new consti¬ 
tution was also adopted. Thus was established the first independent, 
constitutional government in the history of mankind, where, under God, the 
will of the people is the absolute and indisputable power that governs. 

There had been other forms of so-called republics in the administration 
of which restricted participation had been nominally accorded, or rather 
limited suffrage granted, usually as a peace offering to stifle public clamor. 
But even this nominal voice had been invariably subjected to the arbitrary 
whims of some artful and ambitious schemer or, what was infinitely worse, 
some self-constituted autocrat, animated solely by sordid and selfish motives; 
but there, in an old-fashioned village on the frontier of western civilization, 
from the healthy and untrammeled genius of rural pedagogues and planters 


122 











THE TEMPLE AND ITS ENVIRONMENTS 


had sprung into life a system of constitutional rule where the will of the 
people, voiced by their votes, was sovereign and supreme. And it will 
continue, under the wise provisions of its basic law, until debased manhood 
shall forfeit this inestimable birthright by corrupt political practices and 
moral turpitude. 

An eminent historian says: 

The Bill of Rights may be called not only the Magna Charta of Virginia, 
but of America. It first announced the great principles upon which the Americans 
meant to rest in the approaching struggle and, after a century of republican freedom, 
there is nothing to add to this great protest in favor of the rights of man. 

It is truly the most remarkable paper of the epoch and was the founda¬ 
tion of the great American assertion of right. Jefferson went to it for the 
phrases and expressions of the Declaration, and it remains the original chart 
by which free governments must steer their course in all coming time. 
The writer lays down the fundamental principle that “all men are free and 
independent and have certain inherent rights of which, when they enter 
into a state of society, they cannot by any compact deprive or divest their 
posterity,” and these rights are named. “All power,” says he, “is vested 
in and consequently derived from the people,” and “magistrates are their 
trustees and servants and are at all times amenable to them.” He deals 
with religion in the spirit of the liberator. "Religion,” he says, "is the 
duty which we owe to our Creator, and the manner of discharging it can 
be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence; and 
therefore all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion accord¬ 
ing to the dictates of conscience. Lastly, he says, "the blessing of liberty 
can only be preserved by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temper¬ 
ance, frugality, and virtue, and by frequent recurrence to fundamental 
principles.” 

In 1785, at the instance of Washington as President of the "Potomac 
Company,” a commercial enterprise in which both he and Mason were inter¬ 
ested, a joint commission was appointed by the legislatures of Maryland 
and Virginia to settle the boundary line between these states and to regu¬ 
late and establish a uniformity of duties on imports, commerce and currency. 
This led to the Annapolis Convention, in September, 1786, to which Mason 
was chosen a delegate but failed to attend. The Annapolis Convention 
led to the Philadelphia Convention of May 24, 1787, which framed the 
Federal Constitution. In this convention Mason again distinguished 
himself, but in the end refused to sign the completed instrument, claiming 
that it impaired the rights of the states and also because a clause prohibiting 
the slave trade was stricken out by compromise between New England and 
some of the Southern States. In this convention Mason strongly urged an 
executive council consisting of three men instead of the one president as at 


123 





THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 


present. This plan, lie claimed, would not only divide the burdens and 
responsibilities of the executives but would provide a system by which a 
majority would rule in deciding all vital questions. Under his plan it 
would also give representation, in the Executive Council, to each political 
faction as well as to different sections of the country. In the Virginia 
Convention he, with Patrick Henry, vigorously opposed ratification of the 
instrument upon these grounds. 

Mason served in the General Assembly from 1775 to 1781; then with¬ 
drawing for several years, he returned again in 1786-87 and 1788, when he 
permanently retired from public life. Refusing appointment as one of the 
two first senators in the Congress of the United States from Virginia, he 
returned to Gunston Hall, where he died on the 7th of October, 1792, in 
the sixty-seventh year of his life. 

The following extract from Mason’s will is an index to his character: 
“I recommend it to my sons from my own experience in life to prefer the 
happiness of independence and a private station to the troubles and vexa¬ 
tions of public business, but if either their own inclinations or the necessity 
of the times should engage them in public affairs, I charge them on a father’s 
blessing never to let the motives of private interest or ambition induce them 
to betray, nor the terrors of poverty and disgrace, nor the fear of danger of 
death, deter them from asserting the liberty of their country and endeavor¬ 
ing to transmit to their posterity those sacred rights to which themselves 
were born.” In closing a letter to his son George, then in France, dated 
June 3, 1781, he writes, “God bless you, my dear child, and grant that we 
may again meet in your native country as freemen, otherwise that we 
never see each other more, is the prayer of Your affectionate father.” 

Mason left a large estate consisting of some 25,000 acres of land, a 
large number of slaves and much personal property, which he divided prin¬ 
cipally among his children. Just prior to the Civil War Gunston was 
sold to two brothers, William and John Merrill, for the timber interest. 
After the war it was purchased from William Merrill by Colonel Edward 
Daniles, a Union veteran, who sold it to Mr. Joseph Spect. Mr. Spect 
transferred it to ^Messrs. Paid and Yaughn Kester, the authors and play— 
wrights, who sold it to Mr. Louis Hertle of Chicago, the present owner. 
The Merrills abused the place, but the other owners appreciated and 
preserved it. It remained, however, for the present owners, Mr. and 
Mis. IJeitle, to completely restore it. Sparing no expense, these generous 
owners have, with unfeigned reverence, not only restored the mansion 
along the lines of its original design but have also reproduced the flower 
gardens, walks and outbuildings and have been largelv instrumental in 
cleaning and enclosing the cemetery with a substantial brick wall. Thus we 
find Gunston today, as shown in the picture, as it was in the days of its 
builder and first proprietor, through the public spirit of this adopted son 
and daughter of Virginia. 


124 





THE TEMPLE AND ITS ENVIRONMENTS 



POHICK CHURCH (SOUTH AND WEST VIEW) 


POHICK CHURCH 



ASHINGTON was a vestryman at different times in two par¬ 
ishes, Fairfax and Truro, in which were located four churches. 
The parochial church of Fairfax Parish was located in Alex¬ 
andria, seven miles distant on the north, while that of Truro 
(Pohick) was an equal distance on the opposite side of his residence. 

Of the latter church his father had been a member of the vestry, as had 
been his old-time friend, William Fairfax. On October 25, 17G2, he also 
was elected a member of this body which was then, and continued to be 
for at least two decades, comprised of some of the most influential and dis¬ 
tinguished citizens of the Commonwealth. We find among this rural and 
then (1762) obscure vestry not only the future military chieftain in the great 
struggle for American independence, but those to whom that chieftain fre¬ 
quently turned in after years for counsel and support. 

The original church building in Truro, in which Washington’s father 
and brother had worshipped, was falling into decay and unfit for public 
uses when he became a member of the vestry; besides, it was located near 
the southern boundary of the parish, and by no means in the center of the 


125 



















THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 


parochial population. The rapidly increasing membership necessitated the 
enlargement of the old or the erection of a new and more spacious building 
to meet the demands of the congregation. The question of convenient 
location seems to have aroused considerable contention and debate, a part 
of the vestry contending for the original site, while Colonel Washington 
and his faction desired a more central location. To settle this dispute 
Washington made a careful survey of the surrounding country, and from 
the data and plates he submitted the vestry formed its conclusion and 
wisely selected a beautiful site on an elevated ridge at Pohick. 

Gunston Hall, the home of George Mason, the great patriot, was five 
miles south of Mount Vernon in an air line, but two estuaries of the Potomac 
—Dogue and Pohick Creeks—intervened, to circumvent which by land 
made the distance nearly three times as great. The location of the new 
church, therefore, being near the headwaters of Pohick, and seven miles 
from Mount Vernon, was an almost equal distance from Gunston Hall, 
and there this substantial and classical structure stands today, a voiceless 
messenger from the past, and in its exquisite simplicity a fitting monument 
to the vestry and more particularly to Colonel George Mason of Gunston, 
and Colonel George Washington of Mount Vernon, who were the acknowl¬ 
edged leaders in the movement to secure its erection. 

During the eleven years of Washington’s service as a member of the 
Truro vestry there were held thirty-one meetings of that body, and we find 
him recorded present at twenty-three. His absence from the other eight 
are accounted for in his diary as follows: Once he was sick in bed, twice he 
was in attendance at the General Assembly, and at the time of the remain¬ 
ing five not in the county. The regularity of his attendance at the meetings 
of the vestry and the progress of church work throughout the parish during 
his incumbency form a striking testimonial of the religious zeal and activity 
of him and his associates. He was on the Building Committee, according 
to Lossing, who saw them draw the plans and personally superintend the 
building of the new church at Pohick, the contract for the erection of which 
was awarded to Daniel French at a meeting of the vestry on April 7, 1709, 
to be completed on September 1, 1772. The cost of construction is given 
in the instrument at 877 pounds Virginia currency, which was equal to 
$3.33 a pound. The agreement was signed by Colonels George Washington, 
George Mason, George William Fairfax, Daniel McCarty and Captain 
Edward Payne. Daniel French died before the completion of the building, 
and Colonel George Mason, administrator of his estate, took charge and 
finished it according to contract. 

Few, if any, church organizations in America can boast of a more 
representative body of men than served at different periods on the vestry 
of old Truro, or, as generally referred to, “Old Pohick.” In addition to 
Colonel Washington and Colonel Mason, two of the foremost men of the 


12(5 





THE TEMPLE AND ITS ENVIRONMENTS 



POHICK CHURCH, ALEXANDRIA, VA. (NORTH AND WEST VIEW) 


Revolution, eleven of them served at various times in the House of Bur¬ 
gesses, and two of them, Colonels William and George William Fairfax, 
were members of the King's Council of Virginia. In addition to this 
Judge George Johnson, who as Burgess from Fairfax moved the adoption 
of Henry’s resolution on the Stamp Act, served as attorney for the parish 
until his death in 1765. He was succeeded in the position by Colonel 
William Grayson, who was aide-de-camp to Washington in the Revolution, 
member of the Continental Congress, and with Richard Henry Lee one of the 
two first senators from Virginia in the Congress of the United States. 

Washington’s diary shows his regular attendance with his family at 
Poliiek from the time of his marriage in 1759 until just before the Revolu¬ 
tionary War, whereas, after that period, we find him generally in attendance 
at Christ Church in Alexandria. He had purchased pews in both churches 
immediately after their completion, holding numbers 28 and 29 in Pohick, 
for which he gave £29 10s, and number 5 in Christ Church, for which he 
paid £36 10s. The revolutionary struggle drew heavily upon the Pohick 
congregation. Its founders and builders were scattered. Many of their 
fortunes were destroyed by the years of cruel struggle, and for decades it 
looked as though these sacred walls, reared by the fostering hands and 


127 









THE MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON 


munificence of Washington and his neighbors, were doomed to utter ruin. 
The church was a refuge for man and beast during the Civil War, and 
suffered wanton pillage at the hands of sacrilegious vandals; its doors and 
windows were torn away, its pulpit sacked and burned, its pews destroyed, 
and even its floors pulled up and pilfered; but generous hearts have restored 
it to its former state, and every Sabbath morning can be seen gathered 
around its chancel, as in the long ago, the sturdy yeomanry of the country¬ 
side, men and women bearing the name of its founders, direct descendants 
of the manorial lords who built and consecrated it to its noble purpose. 


128 






LsTRATED MAP OF SECTION OP FMRFAX C0U N ~ v TrC.NIA. SHOWING MT. VERNON AND ITS ENVIRONMENTS 


Key to Illustrated Map 

Key to illustrated map which shows location of the homes of Washington’s neigh¬ 
bors and brother vestrymen in Truro Parish, as well as the location of impor¬ 
tant places in the vicinity of Mount Vernon, giving old colonial roads. 

1. Arlington House—Home of G. W. P. Custis and Robert E. Lee. 

2 Episcopal Theological Seminary—Alma Mater of Rev. Phillips Brooks, 

Bishops Randolph, Potter and others. 

3. Falls Church—George Washington and George William Fairfax on 
Building Committee. 

4. Fairfax Court House—In the Clerk’s Office of which Washington’s 
Will is kept. 

5. Payne’s Church— Erected by the vestrymen of Truro Parish. George 
Washington and George Mason on Building Committee. 

6. Abingdon—Mrs. Washington’s son, John Custis. 

7. Rose Hill—Daniel French, member of Truro Vestry with Washington. 
Builder of Pohick Church. 

No 8 Bell Vale—George Johnston, Attorney for Truro Parish, who, as a 
member of the House of Burgesses, moved the adoption of Patrick 
Henry’s resolution on the Stamp Act. 

9. Hayfield—Lund Washington, vestryman in Truro and custodian of 
Mount Vernon during the Revolution. 

No. 10. Round Hill—'William Triplett, vestryman in Truro Parish with 
Washington. 

No. 11. Newington— Truro Parish Glebe House, but never used as such. 

No. 12. Woodlawn Mansion—Lawrence Lewis and wife, Nellie (nee Custis.) 
No. 13. Washington’s Mill—Last place visited by the General before death. 
No. 14. Mount Vernon—Home of Washington. 


No. 15. 



Belvoir— William and George William Fairfax, vestrymen in Truro, 
the latter with Washington. 

Cedar Grove—Daniel McCarty, vestryman in Truro with Washington. 
LaGrange—Robert Boggess, vestryman in Truro with Washington. 

No 18 Pohick Church— Erected by plans drawn by Washington, who, with 
George Mason, George William Fairfax and others, formed Building 
Committee. 

No. 19. Major Peter Wagner—Comrade in arms in Braddock’s Campaign 
and member of Truro Vestry with V ashington. 

No 20 Alexander Henderson—On committee to settle boundary line between 
Maryland and Virginia; member of Truro Vestry with Washington. 

No. 21. Bell Air—Tomb of Colonel William Grayson, aide-de-camp to General 
Washington; one of the first Senators from Virginia and Attorney 
for Truro Parish. 

No. 22. Rippon Lodge—Colonel Thomas Blackburn, whose daughter, Anne, 
married Judge Bushrod Washington. 

No. 23. Hollin Hall—Thomas Mason, son of Colonel George of Gunston; 
compatriot of Washington. 

No. 24. Humphrey Peake—Washington’s nearest neighbor. 

No. 25. Washington—Tobias Lear, Washington’s secretary. 

No. 26. Gunston Hall—Colonel George Mason. 

No. 27. Mount Eagle—Rev. Bryan, Eighth Lord Fairfax; where Washington 
paid his last social call. 

No. 28. West Grove—Colonel John West, vestryman in Truro. 

No. 29. Reverend Lee Massey, Washington’s revered pastor. 


No. 30. 


No. 31. Springfield—Martin Cockburn, vestryman in Truro. 


Belmont—Edward Washington, vestryman in Truro, cousin of the 
General. 




































































































































































































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